THE TEACH YOURSELF BOOKS
EDITED BY LEONARD CUTTS
TURKISH
Uniform with this volume and
in the same Series
Teach Yourself Arabic
'Teach Yourself Chinese
Teach Yourself Dutch
Teach Yourself English Grammar
Teach Yourself Good English
Teach Yourself French
Teach Yourself Everyday Front h
Teach Yourself German
Teach Yourself More German
Teach Yourself German Grammar
Teach Yourself Greek
Teach Yourself Hindustani
1 each Yourself Italian
Teach Yourself Eatin
Teach Yourself Malay
Tearh Yourself Norwegian
Teach Yourself Polish
Tearh Yourself Portuguese
Teach Yourself Russian
'Teach Yourself Spanish
Tearh Yourself Swahili
Teach Yourself Swedish
In active preparation
Teach Yourself French Grammar
Teach Yourself Japanese
TEACH YOURSELF
TURKISH
By
G. L. LEWIS
M.A., D.Phil.
Lecturer in Turkish in the
(University of Oxford
ENGLISH UNIVERSITIES PRESS LTD.
LONDON
First printed igig
Printed in Great Britain for the Lnghdi l miemties Press I united,
by Richard t lav and l ompany , I Id , Bungay, Suffolk
INTRODUCTION
Turkish is a member of the Turkic branch of the Altaic family of
languages, spoken by some fifty million people, from the south-
east of Europe to the upper reaches of the Yenisei and the borders
of China. The languages of this branch do not differ among them-
selves anything like as much as the languages of our branch of the
Indo-European family. English, Dutch and Norwegian are all
Germanic, but this fact would be small comfort to the Londoner
who suddenly found himself in Amsterdam or Oslo. On the
other hand, anyone who has mastered the contents of this book
would find little difficulty in making himself understood in
Adrianople, in the Turkish-speaking parts of Cyprus, in Chinese
Turkestan or Samarkand.
Those who require a knowledge of Turkish for commercial,
military, diplomatic or scholarly purposes will need no persuasion
to awaken their interest. Hut there is a reason of another sort for
learning the language. The structuie of Turkish is simple and
logical (it has only one anomalous verb and only one irregular
noun) ; it is, moreover, quite different from the structure of the
Indo-European and Semitic languages. Anyone who is seeking
a new form of intellectual stimulus will find it a refreshing change
to see how- Turkish-speakers clothe the ordinary human thoughts
and feelings in a completely new garb. Take for example this
sentence : 4 'The book which I have bought for you is on the table.*
The shape of this sentence remains the same in French, German,
Spanish, Greek and even Arabic. But in Turkish it becomes:
‘ You-for buy-in-thc-past-pertaining-to-rne book, table’s surface-
thereof-at is.*
"Turkish is an agglutinating language. A Turkish word con-
sists of an unchanging root and one or more suffixes, each adding
one idea to that of the root. For instance, lingua in Latin means
‘ the tongue \ linguatum ‘ of the tongues and it is not possible to
say which of the added letters carries the idea of plurality and
w'hich the meaning ‘of*. Nor is a knowledge of this form
linguarum of any assistance if we wish to translate ‘ of the tongue *
(i lingua ) or * of the seas * (marium). In Turkish* on the other hand,
v
VI
INTRODUCTION
we add -ler to indicate the plural and -in to express 4 of’. So,
given that ‘ tongue * is dil and ‘ sea ’ is deniz , we can at once
translate 4 of the tongue * ( dilin ), 4 the tongues * ( diller ), 4 of the
tongues ’ ( dillerin ), ‘ of the seas * ( denizlerin ) and so on. The same
principle is followed throughout the language, so that if one opens
a Turkish book at random one will see words like: elbisemizle y
4 with our clothes *, gelemiyecektik , * we should have been unable to
come ’ ; hurmetsizliklerine , ‘ to their lack of respect \ Although the
beginner may require several months of practice before he can
agglutinate freely in conversation, he will find ample compensa-
tion in the ease with which the suffixfes enable him to build new
words from the roots he already knows.
Until 1928, Turkish was written in the Arabic script, which was
inadequate to convey the sounds of Turkish. Thus the Arabic
equivalents of the letters k-w-i-k stood for no fewer than five
completely different words, now written kiirk, kiirek , gevrek y koruk
and korun. The need for a reform had long been discussed, but it
took the enlightened despotism of Mustafa Kemal to introduce the
Latin alphabet to Turkey and to outlaw the old Arabic script
from public life. At the same time, official support was given
to the move to rid the language of the numerous Arabic and
Persian woicls which it had adopted over a period of centuries and
to replace them by 4 genuine Turkish ’ words, some resurrected
from old texts, some imported from other Turkic languages, some
constructed on the analogy of existing w r ords, but a great many
simply taken into the written language from the spoken language.
It is easy to poke fun at this policy, but in favour of it it must be
said that the immense gulf which existed in the Ottoman Empire,
between the language of the educated few and the language of the
people, is intolerable in a democratic country. The language
reform has done much to unite the Turks linguistically. Nothing
is to be gained by adopting the ostrich-attitude and saying:
4 Okul (“ school **) is a ridiculous hybrid, out of the Turkish oku-
44 to read ”, by the French ecole. We shall ignore it and continue
to use the good old Ottoman word mektep Turkish children
nowadays don’t go to mektep ; they go to okul .
Hagopian’s Ottoman -Turkish Conversation-Grammar , published in
1907, devoted 215 pages to Turkish and 161 pages to Arabic and
Persian. The student of modern Turkish has no more need to
learn Arabic and Persian than the foreigner studying English
has to learn Latin and Greek.
INTRODUCTION
vii
The aim of this book is to present a picture of the Turkish
language as it is now generally spoken in Istanbul and written by
the best contemporary Turkish stylists. For the most part the
‘ pen of the janissary’s aunt ’ type of sentence has been avoided ;
nearly all the examples have been chosen from modern Turkish
books and newspapers.
It is not possible in a book of this size to give exhaustive word-
lists, nor indeed is it desirable, because very few people are
capable of learning a language by memorizing in advance all the
words they arc likely to need. An appendix of military terms has,
however, been included, much of the information in which is not
to be found in any other work. There is also a list of essential
verbs which the reader will need to know, whether his business in
Turkey concerns tobacco, Hittite tombs, microfilms of Arabic
manuscripts or airfields.
My thanks aie due to four people who were ungrudging of their
help and encouragement to me in the writing of this book : to my
wile, whose idea it was, to my friend and teacher Mr. Fahir Iz,
Lecturer in Turkish at the School of Oriental and African Studies
in the University of London, who read the work in proof and
made some valuable suggestions for its improvement, and to
Mr. G. G. Arthur of II. M. Foreign Service and Major P. A. T.
Halliday, Royal Hampshire Regiment, who both assisted greatly
in the preparation of the Appendix.
J should like also to pay tribute to the skill and care shown by
the staff of the English Universities Press Ltd., and their printers,
Messrs. Richard Clay and Company Ltd., in dealing with a diffi-
cult manuscript.
G. L. Lewis
CONTENTS
PAGE
Introduction ........ v
The Alphabet — The Sounds of Turkish — Vowel Harmony —
Changes in Consonants — Accent and Stress — Punctuation . 1 1
LESSON
1. ("lender — Indefinite Article — Plural The Cases —
Word Order ....... 26
2. Verb Endings — The Verb ‘ to be ’ : Present Tense and
Negative — Personal Pronouns— -Possessive Suffixes-
The Interrogative Particle -Adjectives . . 32
3. Qualifying Nouns — Compound Nouns — The Verb:
Infinitive— -List of Essential Verbs- -Past Tense — 7 ’hc
Verb ‘ to be 1 : Past Tense - -The Verb : Negative —
‘ To have * : var, yok — The Suffixes -li and -siz . 39
4. 'The Verb : Present and Present-Past Tenses — Cardinal
Numerals — Demonstratives —Postpositions — * And * 48
5. Adverbs-- Adverbs of Place — The Suffix -hi — Compari-
son of Adjectives and Adverbs- -Uses of the Ablative
— The Verb : Future and Future-Past "Lenses — Com-
pound Verbs — * It’s raining ’ . . . *58
6. The Verb : Aorist Tenses - - k While ’ — ‘ As soon as *- -
Ordinal Numerals — Fractions — ‘Two each’ — The
Suffixes -ci and -lik — Uses of the Dative — Verbs,
Transitive and Intransitive — Months of the Year . 64
7. Participles and Verbal Nouns— Use of the Participles —
Interrogates — Postpositional Expressions — a$in —
The Verb: Imperative ..... 74
8. The Verbal Noun — Uses of the Verbal Noun— -In-
definite Pronouns and Adjectives — ‘ Self’ — Telling
the Time . . . . . ^ .83
ix
X
CONTENTS
LESSON
9. The imif Form of the Verb * to be ’ — The -mi§ Tense of
Other Verbs — The Pluperfect Tense — The Passive
and the Reflexive Verb — Money, Weights and
Measures — * A glass of water * — The Locative Case
10. The -dik Past Participle — The Relative Participles —
Negative Sentences — ‘ Can * — Adverbs of Place
11. The Reciprocal or Co-operative Verb — The Causative
Verb — Uses of demek Mbst 5 — ‘ So-and-so ■ The
Suflix -ip ....... .
12. Uses of the Future Participle — ‘Too’ — Conditional
Sentences ........
13. The Verb : Subjunctive — ki — Points of the Compass —
Adverbial Forms of the Verb ....
14. Adverbs of Time - 'The Suffix -ca. sine — bir — The
Third-Person Possessive Suffix — Other Useful Ad-
verbs, Conjunctions and Particles — The Suffixes -esi
and -da§ — Diminutives — The Suffix -iri .
15. Modes of Address- The Arabic and Persian Element —
Formation of Verbs— Formation of Nouns and Ad-
jectives — Notes on Certain Verbs— Greetings and
Polite Expressions — Doublets ....
16. How to Read Turkish — For Further Reading- Poetic
and Conversational Word-Order- - Slang Summary
of Verbal Forms ......
Appendix : Glossary of Military Terms — Table of Ranks -
Military Extracts .......
Key to Exercises ........
Index of Suffixes .......
PAGE
9 °
98
106
uf)
121
129
138
130
if)t
162
174
THE ALPHABET
The Turkish alphabet is made up of eight vowels and twenty-
one consonants. For quickness of reference a rough guide to
pronunciation is given against each letter. It is essential to
supplement these indications by reading carefully the more
detailed notes which follow.
Lettn
Name
Approximate pronunciation
A
a
a
as in French avoir, Northern English man
B
b
be
as in English
C
c
ce
J in jam
g
9
ch in church
6
d
de
as in English
E
e
e
as in bed
F
1
fe
as in English
G
g
g<*
as in goat
*
e
yumugak gc
soft g ’)
sometimes lengthens a preceding vowel
and sometimes pronounced like j; in yet
H
h
he
as in house
I
i
i
something like rhe u in radium
i
i
i
as in pit
j
.i
je
as in French, jour, like s in leisure
K
k
j ke, ka
j as in king
L
1
! le
j as in English
M
in
1 me
! »»
N
n
i ne
i ft
i like French eau
O
o
! o
o
o
o
as in German Konig , French eu in deux
p
P
* I )e
. as in English
R
r
! re
i as in ribbon
S
s
, se
as in sing
s
§
'
■ sh in shall
t
t
te
| as in English
u
u
' u
as in push
0
u
u
as in German Fuhrer , French u in tu
V
V
ve
1 as in English
Y
y
; ye
as in yet
Z
z
1 ze
as in English
* Tumusak ge never occurs at the beginnin^of a word.
1 1
12
TURKISH
THE SOUNDS OF TURKISH
i. The notes which follow are not intended to be an exhaustive
account of Turkish phonetics, but to help the student to attain
an intelligible pronunciation without a native teacher. In this
connection, it is worth remembering that there are regular short-
wave broadcasts in Turkish, not only from Ankara but also from
London and in the Voice of America programmes.
A minimum of phonetic symbols has been used in the descrip-
tions of the sounds, so that the reader who knows nothing of
phonetics will not be at a disadvantage.
VOWELS
2. Vowel Length
As a rule, Turkish vowels are short; for example, i ordinarily
has the sound heard in the English bit [i], not that heard in
machine [i:]. Note that in the phonetic transcription a colon
shows that the preceding vowel is pronounced long.
The exceptions are: (i) short vowels are lengthened under
certain conditions when followed by g or v (see §§ 19, 32). (2) In
some Arabic and Persian loan-words an original long vowel is
retained. Such vowels will be marked long in the Vocabularies
thus: muhdrebe , ‘ war ’. See also § 64.
3. Classification of Vowels
The differences between vowels are largely differences in
tongue-position. Phonetic ians speak of front or back vowels,
the former pronounced with the middle of the tongue raised
towards the highest part of the palate, the latter with the back
of the tongue raised towards the velum (the soft back part of the
palate). According to the amount of this raising of the tongue,
vowels are described as high, higher-mid, lower-mid or low.
Another distinction is between rounded and unrounded vowels,
depending on whether or not the sound is produced with rounded,
protruded lips. These terms must be kept in mind for when we
come to deal with Vowel Harmony (§ 36).
4. a
Generally represents the low, unrounded, back vowel [a],
much the same as the a in the French avoir or the Northern
VOWELS 13
English pronunciation of man . When long, it is pronounced like
a in father.
Examples: yasak , ‘forbidden*; adarn, ‘man’; ddil [a:dil],
‘just
In some words, mostly of non-Turkish origin, a represents the
low, unrounded, front vowel [a], much as in cat .
Examples: anne [anne], ‘mother’; lazim [la:zim], ‘neces-
sary \
5 - *
Usually the lower-mid front vowel [e], much as in the English
met.
Examples: evet , ‘ yes ben, * I ’.
Sometimes it represents the higher-mid front fe] (the French <*),
notably when lengthened, the resulting sound being the vowel of
English they, but without the final /-glide heard in this word.
Examples: teyze [te:zo], ‘maternal aunt’; tesir [te:sir],
‘ effect
6 . 1
The high, unrounded, intermediate vowel [lj, which does not
occur in English. If you spread your lips as if to say easy and
then pronounce the first syllable of the word cushion, you will be
saying the Turkish word h$. ‘ winter ’. Alternatively, try to
pronounce the syllable dr, with the shortest possible vowel between
the two consonants : the result should be very close to the Turkish
dir, * is
Examples: kart , ‘woman’; nhtim , ‘quay’; kapula , ‘at the
gate ’.
7. 1
The low, unrounded, front vowel as in pit or, when long, as in
machine.
Examples: ip, ‘ thread bir, ‘ one igtie [i:ne], ‘ needle
3. o
Usually represents the higher-mid rounded back vowel [o],
like the French eau, a clipped version of the vowel-sound in the
English moat , but without the final w-glide heard in this word.
Examples: on, ‘ ton ’; ot, ‘ grass ’; oglan [odan], ‘ boy \
In words borrowed from French and iq Turkish words
TURKISH
*4
beginning with n or /, o represents the lower-mid rounded back
vowel [d], as in English hot or French homme .
Examples : nokta [nokta], * point * ; Londra [bndra], * London \
9 - o
The lower-mid rounded front vowel foe]. The tongue-position
is the same as for [e] (§ 5), but the lips are puckered. The
sound is that of German 6 in Konig , French eu in deux.
Examples : omur, ‘ life * ; ordek, ‘ duck \
10. u
Generally represents the high, rounded, back vowel [u] as in
pushy with lips rounded and parted.
Examples : upuzun, ‘ very long ’ ; uzak , ‘ far *.
In some words, particularly those beginning with l or n followed
by Uy the u is pronounced [u], with the back of the tongue raised
even closer towards the soft palate than for [u], and the lips only
slightly parted, the resulting sound being similar to but shorter
than the 00 in loom.
Examples: nurnara fnumara], ‘number’; nutuk [nutuk],
‘ speech \
11. u
The high rounded front vowel [y], the German ^ in Fuhrer ,
French u in tu. If you pronounce the English word itch with
rounded lips, you will be saying the Turkish word ug, ‘ three
Examples : uziim , * grapes ’ ; yiiZy ‘ hundred ’.
12 . a, Uy {, aa
(1) As will be explained in §§ 18 and 23, the circumflex accent
is written over a and u to indicate that a preceding g, k or / is
palatalized.
(2) Used after these three consonants, the circumflex docs not
necessarily denote vowel-length. Elsewhere it does. Some
writers use it over all long vowels in Arabic and Persian borrow-
ings, but ordinarily it is used only where confusion might other-
wise arise. Note especially these three words: hala [halo],
‘ paternal aunt hala fhaila:], ‘ yet hala [hala:], 4 void ’.
(3) It follows that when it is necessary to differentiate between
long and short a after a non-palatalized g or k, the circumflex
cannot be used. Instead, the length of the a is shown by writing
it twice: kaatil [ka:til], ‘ murderer but katil [katil], ‘ murder \
CONSONANTS
15
CONSONANTS
13 - M
b and its unvoiced equivalent p are not so heavily aspirated as
in English; i.e. they are produced with less emission of breath
than is heard, for example, in the first syllable of poppycock .
Examples : baba , ‘ father ’ ; pazar , ‘ market \
14. c
Exactly like English j in jam.
Examples: cep , * pocket ’ ; Cava , ‘.Java \
*5- f
Exactly like ch in church .
Examples : fekif, 6 hammer ’ ; focuk, 1 child ’ ; Qorfil,
6 Churchill \
1 6. d, t
In English, d and its unvoiced equivalent t are produced with
the tongue touching the gums behind the top teeth. In Turkish
these consonants arc produced with the tongue touching the top
teeth, and are more distinct than their English equivalents.
Examples: deniz , 1 sea * ; Turk, ‘ Turk
> 7 - f- »'
The sounds of f and its voiced equivalent v are weaker than in
English. The top front teeth lightly touch the inner side of the
lower lip. Some speakers pronounce v as weakly as the English
particularly when it occurs between u and a: yuva , ‘ nest
kavun , ‘ melon Tavuk , ‘ chicken is often seen written TAUK
outside food-shops, an indication of how weak the v is in popular
speech.
18. g , k
(1) Before or after a back vowel ( a , 1, 0, w), g and k have the
sounds heard at the beginning of English go and come respectively.
Examples: gam , ‘ grief’; kihbik , ‘ hen-pecked husband
(2) Before or after a front vowel ( e , z\ 0, ii), the sounds of g and
k are palatalized, that is, they are followed by a sound, like
English g and c in angular , cure .
Examples: gdz [g r bz], 4 eye kiirek [k y urekf], ‘ oar \
l6 TURKISH
(3) In some words of Arabic and Persian origin, g and k are
also palatalized before a and u, which are then marked with a
circumflex accent : a, u.
Examples: kdtip [k y atip], ‘secretary’; mezkur [mezk y ur],
‘aforementioned’; gavur [g y avur], ‘infidel, Giaour*. Dis-
tinguish carefully between kar , * snow and kar [k y ar], ‘ profit
(4) There is one regrettable complication: in Arabic borrow-
ings the letters ki f which according to the rule stated in section (2)
of this paragraph should be pronounced [k y i], may represent [ki] :
e.g., hakikat , ‘ truth ’. Under tfee influence of the spelling,
Turkish schoolchildren sometimes pronounce this word as
[hak y ikat]. To avoid confusion, some writers prefer the spelling
hakiykat.
r 9 * g
(1) When at the end of a word or followed by a consonant,
g lengthens the preceding vowel.
Examples: dag [da:], ‘ mountain agda [a:da], ‘ in the net
igne [i:ne], ‘ needle ’.
(2) When preceded and followed by a back vowel (0, z, 0, m),
the preceding vowel is lengthened and the following vowel is lost
or almost lost, except when one of the two vowels is u , when both
vowels are generally pronounced distinctly and th®, g may be
heard as a faint [w].
Examples : ugur [u:r], 4 luck ’ ; dagin, [da:n], ‘ of the mountain ’ ;
soguk [sowuk] also [so:k] and [souk], ‘ cold
(3) When preceded and followed by a front vowel ( e , i, u, ti),
g is normally pronotmeed as a weak v-sound, as in the English
paying .
Examples: diger [dijer], ‘ other eger [ejer], ‘ if’.
(4) In a few words, notably dovmek , ‘ to beat and dvmek s ‘ to
praise ’, the v is sometimes replaced by g in writing but not in
pronunciation.
20. h
Turkish h is always clearly pronounced ; it is not treated like
the English h in hour , honour or dahlia. There is one exception:
in the common masculine name Mehmet the h is not pronounced
and there is a compensatory lengthening of the preceding vowel:
[mermet].
Remember to pronounce separately each letter in the com-
CONSONANTS
17
binations ph, sh and th ; e.g., the ph in $uphe, * doubt *, and
cephe , ‘ front is pronounced as in slap-happy, not as in graph ; the
th in muthif , 6 terrible as in pit-head , not as in pith .
As in French jout, English s in leisure. Occurs only in borrowed
words.
Examples: jeldtin ( a short), * gelatine 5 ; mujde , * good news \
22. A
See § 18.
2 3 *
(1) In 'Turkish, as in English, l has two sounds, the * clear / *
of Least (phonetic [ 1 ]) and the 4 dark l * of told , wool [I], In con-
junction with front vowels / is clear; with back vowels it is dark.
'The distinction comes automatically to English speakers.
Examples : (a) Clear l : suslu , ‘ ornate ’ ; fol , ‘ desert 9 ; geldi ,
■ he came \ ( b ) Dark / : yil , ‘ year ’ ; kol , 4 arm ’ ; pul , * postage-
starnp \
(2) I11 Arabic and other foreign borrowings, however, the clear
sound of l can occur even in conjunction with a and u. In such
case's a citcumflex accent is placed over these letters: a, u. The
function of this accent is the same* as when it is used after g and k
(§ 18) ; it shows that the consonant pieceding the vowel so marked
is followed by a y-sound. If we used this spelling device in
English, w T e would write hind* illuminate , allure, but lunatic . The
_y-sound in Turkish is weaker than in these English examples,
but is perfectly audible. Note that the vow r el marked with a
circumflex may be, but is not necessarily, long (§ 12).
Examples: felalt [§ei y al y c], ‘cascade 7 ; Latin [l y atin], ‘ Latin
malum [mahum], ‘ known ’.
24. m
Exactly as in English: anlamadim , 4 I have riot understood \
25. n
Much like English n, to which it bears the same relation as do
Turkish d and / to their English counterparts (§ ib) : mgm,
‘why?’
TURKISH
18
26. p
See § 13.
27. r
Turkish r is pronounced with the tip of the tongue touching
the ridge of gum behind the top teeth. It is never trilled. Unlike
our r, it is pronounced wherever it occurs in writing: compare
English car [ka:] with Turkish kar [karj.
28. s
Always as in English this, never as in these .
Examples: steak, 4 hot ’; ulus, 4 nation masa, ‘ table \
29- $
English sh in shall .
Examples: $im$ek, 4 lightning §eykspir, 4 Shakespeare
30. t
See § 16.
31. z-
See § 17.
32. .V
(i 1 Initially or after a consonant, like our j in yes.
Examples: yag, 4 oil ? ; Asya, 4 Asia
(2) When preceded by a vowel in the same syllabic, v loses
most of its consonantal value and forms a -diphthong.
Examples: $ey, ‘thing’ (cf. § 5; ; mayn. ‘mine’ (explosive;
the Turkish word is borrowed from the English, and is pro-
nounced much the same) ; buy, 4 stature ’.
(3) Between vowels, y has a far weaker sound than otherwise :
compare the English y in saying with that in yet.
Examples: cwnhuriyet, 4 republic ’; bahtiyai, * fortunate ’.
(4) When y comes between a front vowel and a consonant, the
vowel is lengthened.
Examples: iiyle [oedej, 4 thus babaslyle [bobosidu], 4 with his
father
33 * ^
As in English: zafer, 4 victory zelzele, 4 earthquake
VOWEL HARMONY
19
34. The Glottal Stop
The sounds of Arabic include a glottal stop (* hamza ’) and a
throaty gulp (‘‘ain 1 ). These sounds, in Arabic words which
have passed into Turkish, are pronounced alike as a glottal stop;
the sound heard in place of the tl in the Cockney pronunciation
of bottle 1 or before the 0 in India Office in the mouths of speakers
careful to avoid the usual pronunciation Indiaroffice. The glottal
stop is also heard at the end of the clipped American No J : the
attempt to represent this abrupt closure of the breath has given
rise to the spelling Nope !
In the new Turkish writing this sound is indicated by an apos-
trophe : san'at , ‘ art But the glottal stop does not come
naturally to Turks, and consequently there is a growing tendency
to omit it, both from speech and from writing: sanat. It is
retained when its omission would cause confusion with a similar
word ; e.g., telin , 4 of the wire but tel' in, 4 cursing \
35. Doubled Consonants
Doubled consonants represent not two separate sounds but one
on which tint speaker dwells longer than he would on a single
consonant. Compare the />-sound in lamp-post. Distinguish
carefully between, e.g., elL 4 his hand \ and elli, 4 fifty \ and
remember that a black ace is not the same thing as a black case.
Sec also § 44.
VOWEL HARMONY
36. The principle of vowel harmony pervades the whole of
Turkish grammar, and is largely responsible for the musical
quality which has caused the language to be described as * The
Italian of the East
For the purposes of vowel harmony, vow'els are classified as
back or front, high or low, rounded or unrounded (§ 3), as shown
in the table below. The finer distinctions are ignored. The
1 Unrounded
j Rounded
: Low
High
i Low
1
High
Back
a
1
1
! O
u
Front
e
i
I 6 u
J _l£ ' -
20
TURKISH
student will find it useful to copy the table on to a card, to avoid
constantly having to turn back.
37. General Law of Vowel Harmony
If the vowel of the first syllable of a word is a back vowel, so,
too, are the vowels of subsequent syllables.
If the vowel of the first syllable of a word is a front vowel, so,
too, are the vowels of subsequent syllables.
Examples : (back) gali§kan , ‘ industrious * ; salincak, 4 swing ’ ;
clohuz , 4 nine * ; doksan , 4 ninety > ; olmadilar , 4 they did not
become \
(Front) (ekingen , 4 shy * ; gelincik , ‘poppy’; se kiz, ‘eight*;
seksen , 4 eighty ’ ; olmediler, 4 they did not die \
Exceptions: (1) a small number of Turkish words, among the
commonest being : anne , 4 mother ’ ; kardef, 4 brother ’ ; elma,
4 apple ’ ; $i$man, 4 fat ’ ; hangi , 4 which? * and inanmak , 4 to believe ’.
(2) The six invariable sufhxcs - da -yor , -ken, -leyin, -mlrak and
-ki. The last is only a partial exception, as it does change to
-kii after li.
(3) Compound words, e.g., bugun ( bu , 4 this ’, and gun, 4 day ’),
4 to-day \ The word obur, 4 the other *, is a good example of the
force of vowel harmony. It was once o bir, 4 that one \ but the
o rounded the 1 into u, while the i turned the o into tl?e front b.
(q) Arabic and other foreign borrowings. Frequently there is
a partial application of the principle even to these. For example,
the English football term 4 penalty ’ appears in Turkish not as
penalli blit as penalty the front i changing to back i under the
influence of the preceding back a. The French epaulette becomes
apolet. The standard Turkish for 4 bus ’ is otobus , a phonetic
spelling of the French autobus, bvit in vulgar speech the pronun-
ciations otobus and even otobos are heard, as the front u does not
come naturally after the two back 0’s. Similarly, the French
vapeur, 4 steamship has become vapur , though the phonetic
Turkish spelling would be vapor.
38. Special Law 7 of Vowel Harmony
(1) Unrounded vowels are followed by unrounded vowels.
(2) Rounded vowels are followed by low unrounded or high
VOWEL HARMONY
21
39. Combining the general and the special laws, we arrive at the
following :
a is followed by a or 1
* » *
1 „ a
* >- *
a „ u
f „ M I
a „ u
e ,, u I
Exception : a may be followed by u if the intervening con-
sonant is b, p , m or r ; for example, tapu, ‘ title-deed * ; avtig ,
* hollow of the hand 5 ; abuk sabuk , 4 nonsensical ’ ; j atnur , * mud \
It will be seen that 0 and ii occur as a rule only in the first
syllable of Turkish words.
40. Vowel Harmony of Suffixes
It follows that the Turkish suffix, with the exceptions noted in
§ 37(2), has a chameleon-like quality ; its vowel changes according
to the vowel of the preceding syllable. For example, the suffix
of the dative case, denoting ‘ to is the appropriate low vowel.
As 0 and 6 do not occur in suffixes, the choice is between a (after
back vowels) and e (after front vowels). Thus:
ev, house; ev-e* to the house
Globus , bus ; otobus-e, to the bus
01 mariy forest; orman-a , to the forest
vapur, steamer: iapur-a, to the steamer
We therefore say that the dative suffix is -ej-a. Wc may use
instead the notation -e 2 , meaning that the suffix is one of the two
low, unrounded vowels, e or a. Similarly, we may say that the
suffix of the genitive case, denoting 1 of’, is -m 4 ; that is, it is one
of the four high vowels plus n : -in, -in, -un or -tin. Thus :
ev-in, of the house
otobtis-un, of the bus
ormati-in, of the forest
vapur-un , of the steamer
* Note that this word must be spelled eve. Suffixes are never
hyphenated in Turkish ; hyphens are used in this book only to make
clearer the process of word-building.
22
TURKISH
In the absence of any note to the contrary, it may be assumed
that any suffix containing an e is subject to the two-fold mutation,
while any containing an i is subject to the four-fold mutation.
41. Exceptional Vowel Harmony
There are a number of foreign borrowings, many of them
ending in clear l (see § 23), whose last syllables contain an a , 0
or u, yet which take front vowels in their suffixes (although not
all Turks are equally careful in this respect).
Examples: rol , ‘role’, rol-iin, ‘of the role’; saat , ‘hour’,
saat-in, 1 of the hour ’ ; mahstil , ‘ produce mahsul-iin, ‘ of the
produce \
Rather than give rules for recognizing such words, it will be
simpler to indicate them in the Vocabularies thus : rol (-lu) ;
saat (-ti) ; mahsul (- lu ).
CHANGES IN CONSONANTS
42. Turkish words hardly ever end in the voiced consonants b,
c , d or g, and when these sounds occur at the end of foreign
borrowings they change to the corresponding unvoiced p, g, l or k.
Thus the Arabic for ‘ book kitdb, becomes kilap in Turkish; the
masculine name Ahmad becomes Ahmet. The French garde-robe
appears as gardrop , ‘ wardrobe, cloakroom The Persian rang ,
‘ colour \ appears as renk. The English bridge (the card-game)
appears as brig. An increasing number of writers, however,
prefer the spellings kitab % Ahmed , etc., though this does not affect
the pronunciation. <-•
43. When a suffix" beginning with a vowel is added to some
nouns of one syllable and most nouns of more than one syllable,
ending in p, f, t or k, the final consonant changes to b 9 c , d or g
respectively. Thus with the possessive suffix of the third person
-» 4 (§ 40) :
kitap, book; kitab-u his book
agaf, tree ; agac-i , his tree
armut , pear ; armud-u 9 his pear
ayak, foot; ayag-i , his foot
Nouns wdiose final consonants arc not subject to this change will
be indicated in the Vocabularies thus: renk (- gi ), ‘colour’; et
(-ti), ‘ meat sepet (-ti), ‘ basket \
This means that the k of renk becomes g (not g) before a suffix
CHANGES IN CONSONANTS 23
beginning with a vowel, while the t of sepet and of et remains
unchanged.
The change occurs less regularly in verbs. Consequently, in
the Vocabularies verbs which are subject to this change will be
indicated, thus: elmek (ed-), ‘ to do \ Verbs not specially noted
do not change the final consonant of their stem.
44. If a suffix beginning with c, d or g is added to a word end-
ing in an unvoiced consonant (f,f, h , k , p, s, $ or t ), the initial c ,
d or g of the suffix is unvoiced, changing to f, t or k\* For
example, the suffix - dir 4 means 4 is * :
kitab-i-dir, it is his book; kilap-tir, it is the book
armud-u-dur , it is his pear; armut-lur, it is the pear
sepet-i-dir , it is his basket; . sepet-tir , it is the basket
otobiis-u-diir, it is his bus; otohus-tiir , it is the bus
45. Doubled consonants at the end of Arabic borrowings are
reduced to single consonants in Turkish. Thus the Arabic haqq ,
‘ right \ appears as hak. When followed, however, by a suffix
beginning with a vowel, the doubled consonant is preserved:
hak la, 4 his right \ Such words will be shown thus: hak (- kki ).
.46. Two consonants do not come together at the beginning of
Turkish words, and there is a tendency in speech and writing to
separate two consonants at the beginning of foreign borrowings;
so for 4 train ’ we find liren as well as Iren, for 4 club ’ kulup as well
as I lap. §ilep, 4 cargo-boat is the German Schlepp.
Sometimes instead, a vowel, usually i, is added before two
initial consonants: hlimbot , 4 small steamboat’; isterlin, 4 pound
sterling ’ ; hldr. 4 Slav
47. There are some twenty common words of two syllables in
which the vowel of the second syllabic drops out when a suffix
beginning with a vowel is added : e.g_, isim, 4 name isrn-i, ‘ his
name ’ ; opal, 4 son ogl-u, 4 his son \ Sec the example $ehir in
$ 63. Nouns of this type will be shown thus : ogul (-glu ) 3 4 son * ;
ichh (- hri ), 4 city
48. Arabic: borrowings originally ending in the letter *ain
* This is a convenient but not strictly correct way of describing the
phenomenon. It is wrong to regard the word for * is *, for example,
as an original dir which in certain circumstances changes to tir, dir , tur ,
etc. It is accurate, though impossibly long-winded, to say that the
Turkish for 4 is ’ is a dental, voiced or unvoiced according to the nature
of the preceding consonant, plus a high vowel, rounded or unrounded,
back or front, according to the nature of the preceding vowel, plus r.
TURKISH
24
(§ 34) are regarded as ending as a consonant. The possessive
suffix of the third person (§ 43), -z 4 , takes the form -.w' 4 after
vowels, e.g., gemi-si 9 * his ship \ But 4 his mosque ’ is cami-i 9
* his subject * is mevzu-u , * his square ’ is murabba-i 9 all these words
originally ending in ( ain ( cami\ mevzu\ mwrabbcC ). Already,
however, a great many people say camisi for 4 his mosque and
it is probable that this rule will not outlive the generation who
were brought up in the time of the Arabic alphabet and remember
the original spelling.
ACCENT AND STRESS
49. The problem of accent and stress in Turkish is an involved
one, to give a full account of which would result in something
resembling an opera-score. The simple rule is that the stress
falls on the first syllable but that there is a more obvious tonic
accent, i.e., a rise in the piLch of the voice, usually on the last
syllable ; compare the way we say 8 Really ? * to express incredu-
lity, with the stress on the first syllabic but an unmistakable rise
in pitch on the last. It is this rise in pitch that will be referred
to as * the accent \
The chief exception to the rule is that place-names arc hardly
ever accented on the last syllable. The accented syllable of
place-names and of other words not conforming to*thc rule will
be shown thus: Pari?; Ingiltere , ‘ England yalmz 9 * only \
Unless otherwise indicated, if the: accent comes on the last
syllable of a word it remains at the end, even if the word is
lengthened by tho addition of suffixes: ordu 9 ‘army’; ordumuz ,
* our army ’ ; ordumuzda , ‘ in our army ’. But in words where
the accent is on a syllable other than the last, it remains on that
same syllabic : Turkiye , ‘ Turkey 5 ; Turkiyede 9 4 in Turkey ’.
PUNCTUATION
50. It is usual to put a comma after the subject, especially
when it comes at the beginning of a long sentence. A comma is
often found where we would use a semicolon.- Three dots (. . .)
are used far more frequently than in English to show that a thought
has not been completely expressed.
Reported speech is not always enclosed in quotation-marks,
and Turkish printers seem to prefer the Continental type of
arrow-head quotation-marks.
PUNCTUATION
25
The apostrophe, in addition to representing the glottal stop
(§ 34), is also used to separate names, particularly foreign names,
from any grammatical endings that may be attached, to make it
clear how much is name and how much is suffix. Thus:
Holivud'a , * to Hollywood * ; Honolulu' da, ‘ in Honolulu * ;
Gandhi'nin , 4 Gandhi’s Stalin' in, 1 Stalin’s
The most disconcerting trick of punctuation is the use of
brackets round book-titles, foreign words or words specially
emphasized, where we would use inverted commas or italics:
Tank saym (15.000) i gegmigtir, £ The number of tanks has passed
25,000
LESSON ONE
51. Gendkr
There is no distinction of gender in Turkish grammar. The
pronoun of the third person, for example, 0 means 4 he *, 4 she *
or * it * according to the context. , To save space, the alternatives
will not be noted every time. When, for instance, oldu is given as
meaning 4 he became the reader must bear in mind that it may
also mean 4 she became ’ or 4 it became \ Similarly, yeri , 4 his
place may also be 4 her place ' or 4 its place \
52. The Indefinite Article
The indefinite article 4 a ’ is the same as the word for 4 one * :
bir. Bir ev, 4 a house ’ ; bir goz, 4 an eye \
53. The Plural Suffix
The sign of the pluial is -lerj-lar added directly to the noun
before any other suffix:
ei ■, house ; evler, houses
/iz~, girl; kizlar, girls
gozj eye ; guzler, eyes
elma, apple; elm alar, apples
In such expressions as 4 to write let lets \ 4 to sell newspapers ’,
‘ to smoke cigarettes *, the plural suffix is not used, the noun in
the singular demoting the class, as in 4 to hunt tiger ' ; 4 does the
baby eat egg? not one egg or a plurality of eggs, but egg in
general.
54. Tiik Casks
There are five case-suffixes which may be added to a Turkish
noun or pronoun to show its relation to the other words in the
sentence, but the student need not fear that he will have to
master a vast battery of declensions such as intimidate the beginner
in German or Latin. As has been briefly explained in the
Introduction, the suffixes of Turkish are regular and, apart from
the changes due to vowel harmony and consonant assimilation,
invariable. The names of the cases familiar to students of
26
LESSON ONE
27
European languages will be used in this book, with two excep-
tions : instead of 4 nominative * and * accusative *, we shall speak
of the 4 absolute case 5 and the ‘ definite objective case ’ (the
latter abbreviated to 4 def. objV).
55. The Definite Article
There is no word in Turkish corresponding to the English 4 the *,
and only the context tells us whether or not to insert 4 the * in
translating into English :
fay pahah-dir, tea is expensive
fay soguk-tur, the tea is cold
56. The Absolute Case
A distinction is, however, made when a noun is used as the
direct object of a verb. When the noun is indefinite it remains
in the simple form :
fay iftik, wc drank tea
bir adarn gordiim, I saw a man
adamlar gordiim , I saw men
This simple form with no case-suffix, which may be ci ther the sub-
ject or the indefinite object of a verb, we shall call the absolute case.
57. The Definite Objective Case
When the object of a verb is definite, i.c., when it is a proper
name referring to a definite person, thing or place, or when the
corresponding English word is preceded by 4 the ’, by a demon-
strative adjective such as 4 this, that, those or by a word denoting
its possessor — 4 I lost my book’; 4 She met her father’ — so that
we have no doubt about which person, place or thing is meant,
it takes the def. obj. suffix -i 4 (§ 40) *
fay-i iftik, we drank the tea
adam-i gordum , 1 saw the man
adam-lar-i gordum , I saw the men
Ahmed 1 i gordiim, I saw Ahmet
htanbuVu gordum, I saw Istanbul
gvz-ii gordiim , I saw the eye
If the noun ends in a vowel, a y is inserted as a buffer-letter, to
keep the suffix distinct from the body of the word :
Ankara-y-i gordiim , I saw Ankara
kahve-y-i iftik, wc drank the coffee
28
TURKISH
58. The Genitive Case
The genitive suffix, denoting * of *, is -in*.
yol , road ; yol-un, of the road
gun, day ; giin-iin, of the day
Ahmed’in, of Ahmet, Ahmet’s
adam-lar-m , of the men, the men’s
With words ending in a vowel, n is used as buffer-letter before
the genitive suffix :
para , money ; para-nin , of the money
kedi, cat ; kedi-nin , of the cat
kuyu, well ; kuyu-nun, of the well
koprii, bridge ; kuprii-niin , of the bridge
Note : Su , ' water has an irregular genitive suyuti (not -nun),
4 of the water \ The reason for this unique exception is that in
Old Turkish the word ended in a ze-sound and not in a vowel.
59. The Dative Case
The suffix of the dative case, denoting 4 to, for \ is -ej-a. As
with the dcf. obj. case, the buffer-letter y is used to separate the
suffix from a word ending in a vowel.
Jstanbnl-a, to Istanbul
Ankara-ya , to Ankara
adam-a , to, for the man
adam-lar-a, to, for the men
kopru-ye , to .the bridge
koprii-ler-e , to’the bridges
The dative is the case of the indirect object, i.c., in 4 Lend me
the book k Tell her the time 4 Show him the way 4 Give a
dog a bone where we could insert 4 to ’ before 4 me 4 her
4 him ' and 4 dog ’, all these words would be in the dative case in
Turkish.
60. The Locative Cask
This case denotes 4 in, on, at ’ and its suffix is -de!-da :
ev-de , in the house
Istanbul-da , in Istanbul
olobiis-ler-de , on the buses
kopru-de, on, at the bridge
LESSON ONE
29
61. The Ablative Case
The suffix of the ablative case, denoting ‘from, out of’, is
-den /-dan:
ev-den , from the house
Ankara-dan , from Ankara
Ahmet' ten (§ 44), from Ahmet
ktz-lar-dan , from the girls
62. Summary of Case-endings
In the following table, the bracketed letters are the buffer-
letters, occurring only after words ending in a vowel :
Last vowel of word
in absolute case
e or i
l
6 or ii
a on
0 or u
Definite objective
~(r)i
-oo« 1
-o)«
-0)«
Genitive ‘ of ’
-(«)«» :
-In'.un
-(n)in
I -( n)un
j Dative ‘ to, for * .
.(■
y)e
-0
>)a
\ Locative ‘ in, on, at * .
-de
-it
j
! Ablative * from '
i
-den
- dan
For the circumstances in which the locative and ablative
suffixes begin with t instead of d, see § 44.
63. Some Models
To illustrate the sound-changes explained in the previous
chapter, the various cases of five nouns are here tabulated. It
must be emphasized that there is no need for the student to learn
these models by heart, so long as he is acquainted with the
Summary given in § 62 and the sound-changes.
1
i
4 bridge ’
i
‘ dog '
* book *
‘ island 5
‘ city ’
<§47)
I Absolute .
! Definite
j objective
; Genitive .
i Dative
! Locative .
j Ablative .
kopru
i kopek
kitap
ada
§ehir
kopruyii ; kopegi
koprunun j kopegin
kopruyc ! kopege
koprude ! kopek tc
kopruden { kopekten
kitabi
kitabm
kitaba
kitapla
• kitaptan
adayi
adanin
. adaya
adada
: adadan
§ehri
§ehrin
| $ehre
1 gehirde
| §ehirden
TURKISH
30
64. Some loan-words with an original long vowel in the last
syllable retain it when a vowel is added, but shorten it otherwise.
Here for reference is a list of the commonest of such words :
cevap, answer
hal (-/i), state, condition
hay at (-/i), life
liizum , necessity
zaman , time
mahkum (w short), condemned
rnecruh , wounded
So hale , ‘to the condition has long a , while halde> ‘in the
condition ’, has short a ; mecruhun, ‘ of the wounded has the
first a long, nicer uhtan, ‘ from the wounded has short «.
65. Word Order
(1) The subject of a sentence usually comes at the beginning,
the verb at the end.
(2) A definite precedes an indefinite word: ‘ I to the boy an
apple gave ’, but 4 I the apple to a boy gave \
(3) English prepositions, ‘ by, of, from, for * and so on are
represented in Turkish by postpositions or suffixes, that is, by
separate words or added syllables following the wofd to which
they refer : ‘ from Ankara ’, " for me become ‘ Ankara-from ’,
‘ mc-for
(4) Qualifying words precede the words they qualify : ‘ that
man ’, ‘ that tall man ‘ that nearby standing tall man \ In
such expressions as 1 far from town \ ‘ bigger than you * ; ‘ from
town ‘ than you * qualify ‘ far * and ‘ bigger so the Turkish
order is ‘ town-from far ’, ‘ you-than bigger
(5) Expressions of time precede expressions of place, just after
the subject at the beginning of a sentence. The student will find
it useful to memorize the following model of a common type of
Turkish sentence: ‘ Ahmet to-day town-in me- to a story told \
LESSON ONE
31
Vocabulary 1
Ahmet, Ahmet (male name)
aldim, I took, bought
Ankara, Ankara (capital city of
Turkey)
bir, a, an
gay, tea
gocuk, child
dun, yesterday
elma, apple
ev, house
gitti, hr went, has gone
gordiim, I saw
iglik, we drank
Ingiltere , England
Istanbul or Istanbul Istanbul
(formerly Constantinople)
kahve, coffee, cafe
kiZy girl, daughter
koprii , bridge
otobiis , bus
para, money
$ehir (- hri ), city
tren, train
Turkiye or Tiirkiye, Turkey
vapur, steamer
1 jerdim, I gave
Exercise 1
(A) Translate into English: (1) kopruden; evlcrin; kiza;
paradan ; vapurda ; otobuslere. (2) Evde <;ay ic^tik. (3) Kizlar
gordum; krzlari gordiim. (4) Ahmet dun Ankara'ya gitti.' (5)
Dun kopriide Ahmed’i gordum. (6) Vapur, Ingiltere’den
Turk rye’ ye gitti. (7) Otobus lstanbul’a gitti. (8) Kizdan
kahveyi aldim. (9) Vapurda bir 9oeuk gordiim. (10) Qocuga
bir elma vcrdim. (11) Elmayi bir 90c uga verdim. (12) Qocuk
§chre gitti.
(B) Translate into Turkish : (1) In the cafe; from the steamer;
in England; to the bridge; from a child. (2) 1 took the money
from Ahmet yesterday in the train. (3) I gave the girls tea.
(4) I gave the children the apples. (5) The steamer went from
Istanbul to England. (6) I saw t^e girls yesterday in the bus.
(7) Wc drank a codec on the steamer. (8j The child went from
the steamer to the train.
* This vocabulary contains all words used in Exercise 1. Subse-
quent exercises, however, will use words which have been given in the
course of the lessons and only the most useful of which will be repeated
in the vocabularies.
LESSON TWO
66. Verb Endings
There are four sets of personal endings used with various parts
of the Turkish verb. They are tabulated here for reference ;
only Type I need be learned at this stage.
Type I
Type 11
i Type III
j Type IV
Singular
1 st Person 4 I ’
-im
-m
*
-yim j
2nd Person 4 Thou ’
-i in
-n
, —
-sin
3rd Person 4 He ’
i-dir)
—
-sin
!
Plural
j
1 st Persoii * We *
-iz
-k
*
-lim
2nd Person * You 1 .
-iirnz
- HI*
- in , -iniz
-sitiiz 1
3rd Person ‘ They * .
-(dir tier
' -ler
-sinler
' -ler |
; ;
* There is no ist Person of Type III.
67. The Verb * to be ’ : Present Tense
(1) The Type I endings form the present tense of the verb
‘ to be \ They arc all suffixes, not independent words, and are
subject to the fourfold vowel harmony, except of course for the
- lerj-lar of the 3rd, person plural.
After
e or i
After
a or 1
After
0 or ii
After i
0 or u
I am .
-( v)im
-( y)um
! -(y)um
Thou art^see Note)
- sin
-sin
-sun
, - sun
He is
-dir
-dir
-diit
-dur
We are . . !
-{y)}z
-(>)«
. -{y)uz
; -(y)uz !
You are
-siniz
-simz
-sunuz
: -sunuz
They are
-dir(ler)
dtr(lar)
-dur(ler)
| -dur(lar) j
These endings are unaccented : evde-yiz, 6 we are in the house * ;
Tiirk-iim, 4 I am Turkish Note that after a vowel, y is inserted
before -irn and -iz.
(2) In written Turkish, -dir(ler) translates ‘ is, are * : Ahmet
32
LESSON TWO
33
evde-dir, 4 A. is at home * ; gocuklar Ankara* da-dirlar, 4 the children
are in Ankara \ But in the latter example, as the plurality of
the subject is already shown by the - lar of gocuklar , it is enough to
write gocuklar Ankara* da-dir, We shall meet other examples of
this tendency towards economy in the use of suffixes.
(3) In the spoken language it is not necessary to use - dir(ler ) at
all in such sentences; the juxtaposition of subject and predicate
is enough: Ahmet evde ; gocuklar Ankarada. In speech, Ahmet
evdedir means not 4 A. is at home 5 but 4 A. must be at home \
But in statements of permanent validity, -dir(ler) is used in speech
as well as in writing : Demir agir-dir , 4 Iron is heavy * ; Londra
Ingiltere* de-dir, 4 London is in England \
(4) It is usual for an inanimate plural subject to take a singular
verb; i.c., in Turkish, people arc, things is. An animate plural
subject may also take a singular verb, if it represents a number of
people acting in a body.
JVote : The 4 thou * form is used like the French tu , when ad-
dressing intimate friends, relations, children or animals. It is
best avoided by beginners.
6tt. The Verb 4 to be ’ : Negative
The negative of 4 to be with certain exceptions to be noted
later, is expressed by the word degil, 4 not with the Type I
endings :
degilim , I am not degiliz , we are not
degihin , thou art not degilsiniz , you are not
dcgil{dir), he is not degil(dirlcr), they are not
With the omission of -dir (§67 (3)), 4 they are not’ may be
degiller.
degil also translates 4 not ’ without a verb: Ahmet degil Orhan
gith ( 4 Ahmet not, Orhan went 4 It wasn’t A., it was O. who
went ’.
69. The indefinite article hir is less frequert than its English
equivalent; for example, it is not necessary to use it in negative
sentences : gocuk degil, 4 he is not (a) child ’, or with nouns denoting
one’s occupation, station in life or nationality: Ingiliz-im, 4 I am
(an) Englishman ’ ; asker-siriiz, 4 you are (a) soldier \ The reason
is that bir really means 4 one ’ ; if he is not of the class * child it
is superfluous to say that he is not one single member of that
class. So, too, I cannot be more than one Englishman; you are
B
TURKISH
34
obviously not more than one soldier. Compare the French vous
iUs soldat .
70. Personal Pronouns
ben , I biz , we
jtfn, thou you
0, he, she, it onlar , they
As verb-endings change according to the person, these forms
are used mainly for emphasis: ben tembel degilim , siz tembelsiniz ,
‘ /’m not lazy, you are lazy \
Of these pronouns, only siz is quite regular. The others show
certain irregularities, which are printed in capital letters in the
following table:
I
ben
thou
sen
j
I he, she, it
0
me
beni
thee
seni
! him, etc.
oNu
of me
beniM
of thee
senin
1 of him, etc.
onun
to me
bAnA
to thee
sAnA
to him, etc.
oNa
in me
bende
in thee
sende
: in him, etc.
oNdan
from me
benden
from thee
senden
; from him, etc. oNdan
we
biz
1 you
siz
• they
oNlar
us
bizi
you
sizi
1 them
oNlan
of us
biziM
of you
sizin
1 of them
oNlann
to us
bize
to you
size
! to them *
oNlara
in us
bizde
in you
sizde
i in them
oNlarda
from us
bizden 1
1 from you
sizden
j from them
oNlardan
It will be seen that ‘ he ’ has an n before the case-suffixes and
before the -lar of the plural. This n turns up in the declension of
other pronouns, and is referred to as the * pronominal n \
* I * and ‘ we ’ have an tn instead of the usual n in the genitive
case.
‘ I * and * thou ’ shift from the front- to the back-vowel class in
the dative.
siz means ‘you*, singular and plural (§67, Note), and biz,
‘ we ’, is sometimes colloquially used for * I \ When more than
one person is referred to, these words may take the plural suffix :
bizler, ‘ we * ; sizler , ‘ you
71. Possessive Suffixes
Possession or relationship — * my friend, their work, its develop-
ment ’ — is indicated by the following suffixes, which have slightly
LESSON TWO
35
different forms according to whether they follow a vowel or a
consonant. Note the unusual buffer-letter s of the 3rd-person-
singular suffix.
!
j After consonants
After vowels
my . . *
-im*
-m
thy
- in 4
-n
his
-i*
-si*
our
- imiz 4
-tniz*
your . . .1
- tniz *
-niz*
their .
i
-leri/ -lari
-leri j lari
Examples :
gdz-um, my eye
kiZ'in , thy daughter
kol-u , her arm
otomobil-imiz , our car
focuklar-miz , your children
dukkdn-lan , their shop
baba-m , , my father
anne-n , thy mother
para-si , his money
ordu-muz , our army
oda-mz, your room
kedi-Uri , their cat
Case-endings follow these suffixes: gdzum-de, 4 in my eye*;
ordumuz-a , 4 to our army ' ; foculdariniz-dan , 4 from your children \
An n (§ 70 : 4 pronominal « *) is inserted before any case endings
that may be attached to the 4 his 5 and 4 their * suffixes * kol-n-n-a ,
4 to her arm ’ ; para-si-n-dan , 4 from his money ’ ; diikkdn-lan-n-da ,
4 in their shop ’ ; kedi-leri-n-in, 4 of their cat *.
evleri can mean 4 his houses * (evlcr-i) or 4 their house * (eu-leri).
Further, when - leri , 4 their \ is added to a plural noun, one ler
drops out. So evleri can also mean 4 their houses ’.
Except in the absolute case, there is no distinction of spelling
or pronunciation between the ‘ th> * suffix and the 4 his * suffix
following a consonant : ev-in-e , 4 to thy house ' ; ev-i-n-c, 4 to his
house \ kardef-in-in, 4 of thy brother * ; karde$-i-n-in , 4 of her
brother \ For the way in which these ambiguities are avoided,
see § 72 (3), (5).
Note : su, 4 water takes the form suy - before suffixes begin-
ning with a vowel (cf. § 58, Note) : suyu , 4 its water suyunuz ,
* your water ’, but sulari, 4 its waters, their water(s) ’.
72. The Use of the Possessive Suffixes
(1) The function of the endings described in the previous
paragraph is to show that the person or thing represented by the
TURKISH
36
word to which they are attached belongs to or is connected with
some other person or thing : oda-si, 4 his room * ; kapi-si , 4 its
door yanli$-im, * my mistake * ; akil-lan , ‘ their intelligence
(2) If the possessor is expressed by a definite noun (§ 57) — 4 the
Director’s room, the door of my house * — the possessing noun takes
the genitive ending -in* and precedes the possessed noun (cf.
§ ^5 ( 4 )) : Miidur-un odasi ; ev-im-in kapisi (‘ of-the-Director his-
room*; 4 of-my-house its-door’). This construction will be
referred to as the Possessive Relationship.
(3) The genitive case of a personal pronoun may be used
similarly, either to avoid ambiguity or for emphasis: benim
ev-im , * my house ’ ; onun evinde , 4 in his house ’ ; senin evinde , 4 in
thy house \
(4) Bui if the possessor is not definite, it remains in the absolute
form: misafir odasi , ‘guest-room’ (which docs not belong to any
specific guest) ; ev kapisi , 4 house-door This construction will
be referred to as the Qualifying Relationship.
(5) In such a phrase as 4 the girls’ room theoretically 4 of-
the-girls their-room kizlar-in oda-lari, the plurality of the pos-
sessor is already shown by the lar of kizlarin* so instead we find
kizlarin oda-si ( k . . . her-roorn ’). Cf. §67 (2). ‘ Th? girls’
rooms however, must be kizlarin odalan.
(6) In the colloquial, the genitive forms of the pronouns of
the first and second persons may bo used instead of the possessive
suffixes: benim oda (‘ of-me the room’), 4 my room bizim kov,
4 our village senin ev , 4 thy house ’ ; sizin sukak , 4 your street ’.
The literary forms \vould be {benim) odmn , {bizim) kbyiwiiiz , {senin)
evil? , {sizin) sokagiruz*{§ 43).
The grd-person suffix, however, cannot be omi tted : {onun)
odasi , 4 his room’; sokaklari or onlariti sokagi (see (5) above),
4 their street \
Note : 4 own ’ is kendi : kendi evim , 4 my own house ’ ; kendi
odamz , 4 your own room ’.
73. The Interrogative Particle
(1) To turn any word into a question, we put mi* after it.
The main accent in the sentence (except as shown in § 83 (1)) falls
on the syllable before the mi, which itself is never accented.
Consider the following sentences :
Bakan lngiltere-ye gitti . The Minister has gone to England.
Bakan Ingittereye gitli mi? Has the M. gone to England?
LESSON TWO
37
Bakan tngiltereye mi gitti ? Has the M. gone to England ?
Bakan mi tngiltereye gitti ? Has the Minister gone to England ?
(2) In interrogative sentences consisting of an adjective or
noun and part of the verb ‘ to be ’, such as ‘ Are you tired? 1
‘ Is her husband English ? * it is the tiredness or Englishness that
is in question, not the person's existence, so the mi follows the
adjective or noun, not the ‘ is ’ or ‘ are ’ : Torgun mu-sunuz ?
Kocasi tngiliz mi-dir?
(3) degil mi? (‘ Not? ’) is used like the French n'est ce pas 3 to
seek confirmation of a statement.
Vapur-u gordiik, degil mi? We saw the steamer, didn’t we?
Guzel , degil mi ? Pretty, isn't she ?
Ankaraya gitti , degil mi? He’s gone to Ankara, hasn’t he?
Note : The word mudur may be either the noun meaning
‘director, administrator' or tin; interrogative particle plus ‘is'
when following an 0 or u : Atiidur Turk miidiii ? ‘ Is the Director a
Turk? ’ In practice there is no likelihood of confusion, especially
in conversation, as ‘ director ', like* most nouns, is accented on
the last syllable, whereas neither mi* nor dir x are ever accented.
74. Adjfctives
(1) Turkish adjectives are often used as nouns: geri$ ( ontklar ,
‘young children'; fur genf, ‘a young person, youth’; gentler ,
‘ the young '. Ha\ta, ‘ ill ’ ; bir fiasta , * a sick person, a patient
(2) Where English has the indefinite article plus adjective plus
noun: ‘ a big house, an intelligent girl Turkish as a rule says
‘ big a house; intelligent a girl ’: buyiik bir ci\ zeki bir kiz , less
commonly bir buyiik ei\ bir zeki kiz-
(3) The attributive adjective always precedes its noun, as in-
English (‘black cat') and never iollows it as in French (chat
noir ).
adam, man
ak$am, evening
arkadaf , friend
baba , father
bu , this
fahfkan, industrious
dukkdn , shop
Vocabulary 2
eski % old (of things), former (of
people)
evet, yes
Galata, Galata (business quarter
of Istanbul)
hayir , no
islasyon, railway-station
TURKISH
38
if, work, job, matter, business
karakol, police-station
kitap , book
komfu , neighbour
kutu, box
mefgul (- lu ), busy
rnuhim, important
otomobil, motor-car
pek , very
sigara , cigarette
sinema , cinema
JO/ira, after (wards)
jimrfz, now
far
yakm (with dative), near (to)
jy^/zz, new
Exercise 2
(A) Translate into English: (1) Baba-niz istasyon-a gitti mi?
(2) Arkada$rimiz-in diikkan-i Galata’da, karakol-a yakin. (3)
Onu otobiis-te degil, trcn-de gordum. (4) Sizin kutu-nuz-dan
degil, kendi kutu-m-dan bir sigara aldim. (5) Bu kitab-i
arkada$-miz Ahmet’tcn aldim. (6) Bu adam-m cv-i istasyondan
uzak degil, pek yakm-dir. (7) O, dim ak?am sinema-ya gitti,
sonra biz arkada^lar-irniz-in cvinde kahvc i$tik. (8) Yeni mudiir
9ah§kan mi-dir? — Hayir, pek 9ali§kan dcgildir. (9) Ev-leri
Galata’da, degil mi?— Evet, kopru-yc yakm. (10) Kutu-yu bu
adam-a verdim, degil mi? (11) Qocuk, odasindadir. (Jocugun
odasmdadir. (12) Kom?ularm evlcri. Kom§ularm evi.
(B) Translate into Turkish : (1) I bought this car from your
father. It’s not very old. (2) The former Director went to
Ankara yesterday evening, didn’t he? (3) My daughter has
gone to our friend’s shop. (4) The police-station is not far from
our house. (5) This is not your money. (6) I saw the Director’s
daughter on the steamer this evening. (7) Your box is now on
the train. (8) Her Job isn’t very important. (9) Your friend’s
father is a very industrious man, isn’t he? (10) Are you busy
now? — Yes, I’m very busy.
LESSON THREE
75- Qualifying Nouns
(i) In English we can make one noun qualify another simply
by putting the two nouns side byfside : 2 3 4 hand-bag, pigskin,
bombing-plane \ The Turkish practice is to put the two words
in the Qualifying Relationship (§ 72' (4)) and say 4 hand its-bag,
pig its-skin, bombing its-plane * : el ganta-si, domuz deri-si, bombardi -
man ugagi (ugak 9 4 aeroplane ’). -(s)i is the hardest-worked suffix in
the language, and its uses must be understood. Study carefully
the following examples:
Qargamba giin-ii
1953 sene-si
Nisan ay-i
ktlig bahg-t
elma agac-i
gilek dondurma-si
yatak oda-si
telefon rehber-i
kahve fincan-i
harp zengin-i
Kilns ada-si
Istanbul belediye-si
Atlantik pakt-i
(Wednesday its-day)
(1953 its-ycar)
(April its-month)
(sword its-fish)
(apple its-tree)
(strawberry its-ice)
(bed its- room)
(telephone its-guide)
(coffee its-cup)
(war its-rich)
(Cyprus its-island)
(I. its-municipality)
(Atlantic its-pact)
Wednesday
the year 1953
the month of April
sword-fish
apple-tree
strawberry-ice
bedroom
telephone-directory
coffee-cup
war-profiteer
the island of Cyprus
the municipality of I.
the Atlantic Pact.
(2) The plurals of such compounds are formed by inserting
- lei before the possessive suffix : elma agaglari> 4 apple-trees ’ ; harp
zenginleriy * war-profiteers ’ ; yatak odalan, 4 bedrooms \
(3) The ‘its ’ suffix is dropped if a possessive suffix is used to
denote the possessor : yatak oda-m , 4 my bedroom * ; yatak odaniz y
4 your bedroom \ It follows that yatak odasi may mean ‘ his
bedroom ’ as well as 4 bedroom ’ ; in the former event the device
noted in § 72 (3) is employed : onun yatak odasi ,
(4) There are a few expressions which are written and treated
as single words, although thc;y were originally* compounds of this
39
40
TURKISH
kind. The two preceding sections of this paragraph do not apply
to them. The commonest are :
Binbagi
(thousand its-head)
Major
Yuzba$i
(hundred its-head)
Captain
Onbafi
(ten its-head)
Corporal
ayakkabi
(foot its-cover)
footwear, shoes
denizalli
(see § 78)
submarine
Examples : Binbaftlar , 4 Majors ’ Yuzbafiya , 4 to the Captain ’ ;
f ocugun ayakkabisi , ‘the child’s shoes’; denizaltida , ‘in the sub-
marine
Note : Place-names consisting of two words in the Qualifying
Relationship tend to lose the possessive -(s)i: Topkapi was once
Top-hapi-si (‘ gun its-gale ’) ; Erenkoyu is fast becoming Erenkov , so
for ‘at E.’ one may hear Erenkdyunde or Erenkoyde.
76. It will be recalled that, when a noun represents the definite
possessor of anything, it takes the genitive suffix (§72 (2));
domuz derisi, ‘ pigskin but domuzun dertsi , 4 the skin of the
(specific) pig ’ ; kuyu suy-iu ‘ w>e 11- water *, but bu kuyunun suyu ,
4 the water of this well otomobil tekerlek-leri , * car-wheels but
otomobilm tckerlckleri , ‘ the wheels of the car \ Nevertheless, place-
names are generally left in the absolute form as qualifiers, like the
first elements in the examples in § 75, even when they might be
regarded as possessing the following noun: Istanbul halk-i, ‘the
people of I.’ ; Ankara smemalarivda , ‘ in the cinemas of A.’ ;
Tiirkiye Ba^bakan-u 4 the Piime Minister of Turkey The use of
the genitive case is, * however, obligatory if the place-name is
separated by another word from the noun it qualifies: Istanbul
hayat-i, 4 Istanbul life but LtanbuVun sanat hayat-i, * the artistic
life of Istanbul ’ ; Semeikant f ini-leri , 4 Samarkand porcelains \
but Semerkand' in mavi g im-lcri , ‘the blue porcelains of Samarkand
77. Where w r c use an adjective of nationality — ‘ English history,
the Turkish Army, French literature ’ • Turkish uses a qualifying
noun, generally identical with the noun denoting a person of the
nationality concerned: Ingiliz tari/i-i (‘ Englishman his-history ’),
Turk ordusu (‘ Turk his-army "), Fransiz edebiyat-i (‘ Frenchman
his-literature ’).
Sometimes, however, there are two different nouns, e.g., bir
Amerikah, ‘ an American but Amerikan ordusu, 4 the A. Army
LESSON THREE
4 *
78. Compound Nouns
The marks of a compound noun are that the elements composing
it are written as one word and do not both retain their* primary
meaning.
Examples :
buy this; gun , day: bugiin y to-day
denizy sea; alt-u its-underside : de?:izalti t submarine
hammy lady : el-i y her-hand : h v;i meli, honey-suckle
ba$y head ; bakan , minister : bafbakaru Prime Minister
kara, black ; yel, wind : karayel. North-west wind
dedi, he said ; kodu, he put : dedikodu , gossip (noun)
Note that compound nouns not containing a verb are accented
on the last syllable of their first element.
79. The Verb: Infinitive
The infinitive of the English verb is the form ‘to sec, to go, to
want’, etc. The Turkish equivalent ends in - mekj-mak : gbrmsk ,
‘to see’; gitmek , ‘to go 1 ; atilamak , ‘to understand*; bulmvk ,
1 to find \ That portion of each infinitive to which the -mek' r mak
is added ( gor -, git -, anla-, bid-) is known as the stem.
The infinitive is a noun, and may be the subject or object of a
verb : ‘ to run away seems cowardly 1 ; ‘I want to sing *.
80. List of Essential Verbs
agmaky to open
aimak , to take, buy, receive *
anlarmk . to understand
ararmky to seek
atmaky to throw
bakmaky to look (with dative :
‘ at, after ’)
baglamaky to begin (with dative)
begenmeky to like, approve of
beklemek . to wait, await, expect
birakmaky to leave
bilmek , to know, guess
bulmaky to find
gali$miky to w r ork, strive
gekmek , to pull
f ikmnky to go out, go up
dernek\ to say
dinlemeky to listen, listen to
durmal , to stand, stop
duymaky to feel, hear
dugmek, to fall
dufunmek , to think (about)
etmek {ed- § 13), to do
gegtneky to pass
gelmeky to come
getirrnek. to bring
girmeky to enter (with dative)
gitmek (gid-), to go
* In case of ambiguity, satin aimak (‘ to take by sale *) is used for ‘ to
buy ^
TURKISH
42
gondermek , to send
gormeky to see
hatirlamak , to remember
igmek, to drink, smoke
istemeky to want, ask foi
1 §itmeky to hear
kalmaky to remain, be left
kalkmak, to rise, be removed,
start (tiam, et( )
kapamal , to shut
kaybetmtk (~ed-), to lose
kirmaky to bitak
komaky koy trial , to put, place
konu$mal , to speak, disc uss
kofmak to run
kullanmik , to use
okumaky to rend
olmaky to be , be ome, oc c 111
oturmaky to sit, live (dwell)
ogienmtk, to leam
olmeky to die
samtiafy to think, suppose
satmaky to sell
saymaky to count, esteem
sefmeky to choose
sevmek, to love, like
sormaky to ask, ask about
soylemeky to say, tell
tanimal , to know, recognize
tafimak, to carry
iutmaky to hold
ucmaky to fly
umitmaky to forget
manmaky to awake
uyumal , to sl< ep
lermek to give
1 urmal to strike
yapmak to rn ike do
yamm/iJ , to live (b alive)
) itmaky to Ik down go to bed
uumak, to write
; enn k to cat
)oll<nnak, to end
yurumtl , to walk
8r Tin Vfkb Pam 1 1 \si
Ihe vanous tenses of tin veib aie fount d b\ adding to the
siem a tense suffix, the it suiting woul (the ‘tense-bast being
the jrd person sinenilir of the tense to which personal endings
art added to form tlie ic 111 lining persons 66) Ihe suffix of
the past tense is -c/? 4 and with it aie used th lyp II ending ■>
iste-di m, I wanted, hive wmted isfe-di k we wanted
ute-di h, thou didst want istt-di-mz, >ou wanted
utt diy he wanted iste-di Ur the> wanted
So from
gormeky to see t, ordum , gen dun, gordu, gorduk gordunuz , gorduler ,
I saw , have s< en < tc
bakmaky to look (§44^ bakttm , bah tin, bakti , bakttky bakttmz ,
baktilar s I looked, have looked, etc
buhnaky to find buldum, bid dun, buldu, bulduk, buldunuz,
buldular, I found, have found, etc
LESSON THREE
43
82. The Verb 4 to be * : Past Tense
(1) Under the English verb 1 to be ’ are included a number of
words of different origins (be, am, is, arc, was) and the same is
true in Turkish. We have already met the present tense (§67).
For the infinitive, olmak is used, which properly means 4 to come
to be, become, occur, mature ’. The past tense is based on a
stem t-, to which are added the past suffixes shown in § 81 :
idim, I was idik, we were
idin, thou wert idiniz, you were
idi, he was idiler, they were
These forms, which are unaccented, arc used either as inde-
pendent words or, especially in conversation, as suffixes. In the
latter case, the first i disappears after consonants and changes to
y after vow r e!s, the remainder of the word undergoing the fourfold
vowel harmony.
adam idi or adamdi , it was the man
miidiir idiniz or mudiirdunuz , you were the director
hi tap idi or kitapti (§ 44), it was the book
yorgun idik or yorgunduk, we were tired
sinemada idiniz or sinemadaydimz , you v'ere at the cinema.
(2) The interrogative mi* usually combines with idim, etc. :
hazir miydim (for mi idini), was I ready?
hazir mxydin , wert thou ready ?
hazir miydi, was he ready ?
etc.
mcjgul miiydiim (for mil idim ), was I busy?
yorgun muydum (for mu idim), was I tired?
tembel miydim (for mi idim), was I lazy?
Mote : The past tense of olmak , 4 to become is regular : oldum,
oldun, oldu , etc. So asker olmak means 4 to be or to become a
soldier ’, but asker idim ( askerdim ), 4 I was a soldier ’ ; asker oldum ,
‘ I became a soldier ’.
83. The Verb: Negative
( 1 ) The negative of all verbs, except for those parts of 4 to be '
which are based on the stem i-, is made by adding me/ma to the
stem. To the negative stem so formed are added tense- and
44 TURKISH
other suffixes. The main accent in the sentence comes on the
syllable before the me/ma.
istemek , to want ; istedim , I wanted
istememek , not to want ; istemedim , I did not want
bakmak, to look ; bakhmz , you looked
bakmamak , not to look ; bakmadimz , you did not look
olmak, to become ; oldutn , I became
olmamak , not to become ; olmadim , I did not become
(2) The past tense of olmamak when it means 4 not to be in
other words, the negative of idim (§ 82) is :
degil idim or degildim , I was not
degil idin or degild in, thou wert not
degil idi or degildi , he was not
degil idik or degildi k, wc were not
degil idiniz or degildiniz , you were not
degil idiler or degildiler or degillerdi , they were not
(3) The negative interrogative is formed as explained in §§ 73,
82 (2) : Bakmaduitz mi? ‘Didn’t you look? 5 Olmadim mi?
‘ Didn’t I become? 5 Ilnrir degil miydik ? ‘ Weren’t we ready? ’
84. ‘ To Ha vi' ’ — Yar, Yak
The words var and yok (‘existent* and ‘ non-e\intent ”1 are
used for ‘there is’ and ‘there is not’ respectively: Bu )chirde
tyi bir otel var mi? ‘ Is there a good hotel in this city? * Odamda
su yaks ‘There's no water in my room’. These two words are
employed where English uses the verb ‘to have’, thus: Bir
kardef-im var (dir) (‘ a my-brother existent is ‘ I have a brother 5 ;
i$-inizyok mu ? ( : vour-work non-existent ? ' h ‘Have you no work ?
Answer: var , 4 1 have or yok, 4 I have not Para-m yok, ‘ 1 have
no money An alternative translation for this is ben-de para yok
(‘ in-ine money non-existent ’). The latter docs not denote such
absolute penury as par am yok, but means rather * I’ve no money
on me ’.
Past tense : mudur-un otomobd-i yok-tu the director’s car w r as-
non-existent ’), ‘the director had no car’; bir kom$u-muz var-di ,
4 we had a neighbour
var, yok are used only in the present tense and with those parts
of olrnak based on the stem /- (see § 183). Otherwise the requisite
part of oltnak is used alone : ‘ wc shall have a holiday 5 becomes
‘ an our- holiday will be
* LESSON THREE 45
Note : Distinguish between vardi (§ 82), ‘ there was \ and
vardi , 1 he arrived \ past tense of varmak .
85. The object of a verb is often not expressed when it is quite
clear from the context : ‘ He showed me the coat, but I didn’t
like (it) so I didn’t buy (it) Numerous examples will be found
in the Exercises.
86. The Suffix -//
(1) The addition of -/* 4 to a noun makes an adjective or noun
meaning 1 characterized by or possessing whatever the original
noun represents ’. The resemblance to the English suffix as
in shapely from shape , is a useful aid to the memory, but is sheer
coincidence.
Eizans, Byzantium; Bizansli , Byzantine
Londra , London ; Londrali , Londoner
kiyrmt , value; kiymetli , valuable
uznn boy , long stature ; uzun boylti , tall
aria, middle ; or la boyla , of medium height
tndna, meaning; mdnah , significant
rutuhei , moisture; rvlubeth , moist, damp
house, home ; re//, married
A'O)', village ; Atfy/w, villager
thou, /wz, I ; /;<?/z/z, informally (cf. § 67, Note)
rcsim {-smi), picture: re\nnh, illustrated
(2) 'li is also added to adjectives of colour, thus : kirmizi , ‘ red ’ ;
kirmizili , ‘ dressed in red
(3) If -h is added to a phrase containing a qualifying noun the
possessive suffix is dropped : Osman ad-i (‘ Osman its-name ’), ‘ the
name “ Osman *' ’ ; Osman ad-h bir genf, ‘ a young man named O.’
(‘ O. -named ’) ; 23 Nisan larih-i (‘ 23 April ils-date ’), ‘ the date 23
April ’ ; 23 Nisan larih-li inch tub-unit z, ‘ your letter dated 23 April
87. The Suffix -siz
- siz means ‘ without " :
akil, intelligence; ahihiz , stupid
son , end ; sonsuz , endless
fayda , use ; faydasiz , useless
edep , good breeding ; edepsiz , ill-bred, mannerless
sen, thou; sensiz , without thee
0, he; o-n-suz (§ 70), without him
So kiymetsiz, ‘ valueless ’ ; mdnasiz , 1 meaningless ’.
4 6
TURKISH
Vocabulary 3
ada, island
adres, address
kardeg, brother or sister; kiz-
kardeg, sister
agag, tree
ana, anne,* mother
asil, ger$ek, real, genuine
kaynak, source, spring
kazang , profit, gain
hiltk, aspect, costume, 4 get-up *
bahge , garden
maalesef, unfortunately
bagka , other, different
memleket (-ti), country, land
baghca , chief, principal
iHmur, official, Civil Servant
belki, perhaps
meyva, fruit
bile (follows the word it modi-
nigin, why?
fies), even
oda, room
bog, empty, vacant
ogul (- glu ), son
biiyiik, great, big
otel , hotel
cumhuriyet (-ti), republic
gok , many, much, a lot of
devlet (-ti), State
palto, overcoat
pasaport (- tu ), passport
penman, untidy, disordered
efendi , master
eser, work, effect
fakat, but
Fdtih, Conqueror (Sultan Meh-
polis , police, policeman
saat (-ti), hour, watch, clock
sabah, morning
sari , yellow
met II)
sene,yil, year
halk (-At), people, the common
sergi, exhibition, display
people
sokak , street
igki, alcoholic drink
gapka, hat
inhisar , monopoly
ta$ umiak, to move (house)
iskele , quay, landing-stage
vakit (-kti), time
kapah, closed, covered
yatak, bed
Exercise 3
(A) Translate into English : ( i ) Istanbul sergi-si-nc gitmek
istedik, fakat vakt-imiz yoktu. (2) Polis memurlari pasaport-um-a
bakmadilar bile. (3) Arkada§lar-iniz dun ba$ka bir ev-e
ta$mdilar, degil mi? (4) Bu sabah Adalar iskelc-si-nde siz-i bir
saat bekledik; ni$in gelmediniz? (5) Sigara aimak istedi fakat
diikkan kapah-ydi. — Bajka bir diikkan yok mu-ydu? (6) Bah^e-
miz-de bir elma agac-i var, fakat bu yil meyva vermedi. (7)
* anne is used only in Istanbul Turkish, and then only in the literal
sense; in provincial dialects and in metaphorical uses ana is used:
anahat, ‘ main line * ; anayol , ‘ main road \
LESSON THREE
47
Karde§-iniz-i sokak-ta peri?an bir kihk-ta, palto-suz §apka-siz
gordiim. (8) Yatak oda-m pek rutubetli-dir. Otel-iniz-de bo§
bir oda var mi? — Maalesef yok. (9) Uzun boylu $ocuk muduriin
ogl-u mudur? — Hayir, onun bir kiz-i var, oglu yok. (10) F&tih,
1453 sene-sinde (yil-inda) Istanbul-u Bizans-li-lar-dan aldi.
(11) Igkiler inhisar-i Cumhuriyet-in biiyuk bir eser-i, devlet-in
baglica bir kazang kaynag-i idi. (12) (Bizim Koy) ad-h kitab-i
oku-ma-dimz mi?
(B) Translate into English : ( 1 ) Is your sister married ? (2) He
wanted to go to another hotel. (3) Is this cigarette-box new? —
Yes, my mother gave it to me. (4) Perhaps he found our address
in the telephone-directory. (5) Our apple-trees have given a lot
of fruit this year, haven’t they? (6) The girl in yellow is Orhan’s
sister. (7) We waited for her at the station but she didn’t come.
(8) My sister wanted to buy their house, but I didn’t like it, it’s
very damp. (9) Have you left your passport at the hotel? (10)
The people is the real master of the country.
LESSON FOUR
88. The Verb: Present and Present-past Tenses
The suffix of the present is - yor , preceded by a high vowel
(§ 36) > h 2 » u or according to the nature of the preceding vowel :
gelmek , to come; geliyor , he ‘is coming (or comes at this
moment)
aimak , to take ; aliyor, he is taking
bulmak , to find ; buluyor , he is finding
gormek , to see ; goruyor , he is seeing
If the stem already ends in a high vowel, the - yor is added
directly to it:
taji-mak , to carry ; ta$i-yar, he is carrying
Koru-mak , to protect ; koru-yor , he is protecting
If the stem ends in a low vowel, this becomes the corresponding
high vowel (see Note ) :
( le-rnek , to say; di-yor , he is saying
anla-mak . to understand ; anh-yor. he understands
soyle-mek , to tell; soylu-yur , he is telling
kolla-mak, to observe ; kollu-yor , lie is observing
To the present base so formed are added the present or past of
the verb ‘ to be ’ (§§$7, 82) but not dir: the present base itself
denotes the 3rd person singular. Consider the following:
Ahmet yor gun, Ahmet is tired; Ahmet geliyor , A. is coming
(Ben) yorgwi-um, lam tired; (Ben) ge/iyor-um, I am coming
[Ben] yot gun-dum, I was tired ; (Ben) geliyor-dum , I was coming
Here are the present and present-past tenses of gelmek. Note
the accentuation.
geliyor um s 1 am coming
geliyor sun, thou art coming
geliyor , he is coming
geliyoniz, we are coming
geliySrsunuzy you are coming
geliyorlar, they are coming
geliyordum , I was coming
geliyorduri, thou wert coming
geliyor du, he was coining
geliyorduk, we were coming
geliyor dunuz, you were coming
geliyorlardx or geliyor dular , they
were coming
48
LESSON FOUR 49
As - yor is invariable (§37 (2)), these endings are the same for
all verbs.
Note : These sound-changes are instances of the following rule
(which like other rules is not universally obeyed) : If a suffix begin-
ning with y is added to a stem ending in e or a , the e or a becomes
i or 1 respectively, unless both the vowel preceding the e or a and
the vowel following the y are rounded, when the e or a becomes
ii or w.
89. The Present and Present-past Tenses : Negative
The endings given in the preceding paragraph may be added
to the negative verb-stem, the final e or a of which is then subject
to the changes described above :
al-ma-tnak , not to take ; almiyor , he is not taking
gor-me-mek , not to see ; gormuyor , he is not seeing
la$i-m i-m'ik, not to carry; ta$imiyor , he is not carrying
de-nie-rnek , not to say ; demiyor, he is not saying
anla-mn-mak , not to understand ; anlamiyor , he does not
understand
soyle-me-mek , not to tell ; wylemiyor . he is not telling
almiyor mnuz, * you are not taking ’ ; alrmyordunuz , ‘ you were not
taking ’ ; gurtnuyorduk, < we were not seeing wylemiyorum , ‘ I am
not telling etc.
90. The Present and Present-past Tenses: Interrogative
The interrogative particle mi 4 is placed after the present-base,
except in the 3rd person plural of the present, when it follows the
lar :
gehyor muyim , am I coming? ; gelmiyor nmywn , am I not
coming ?
geliyor mu sun, art thou coming?; gelmiyor musun, art thou
not coming ?
geliyorlax mi, are they coming? ; gelmiyorlar mi, are they not
coming ?
geliyor muydum , was I coming?; gelmiyor muydum , was I not
coming ?
geliyor muydunuz , were you coining ? ; gelmiyor rnuydunuz, were
you not coming ?
50
TURKISH
Cardinal
91. Numerals:
bir , one
iki, two
iig, three
dort, four
be^ five
alti, six
yedi, seven
sekiz, eight
dokuz, nine
on, ten
on bir , eleven
on iki , twelve
O r i iig, thirteen
on dort, fourteen
on beg, fifteen
on alii, sixteen
on yedi, seventeen
on sekiz, eighteen
on dokuz, nineteen
yirmi, twenty
yirmi bir, twenty-one
yirmi iki, twenty-two
otuz, thirty
kirk, forty
elli, fifty
altmig, sixty
yetmig, seventy
seksen, eighty
doksan, ninety
yuz , hundred
bin, thousand
milyon, million
sifir, zero
(1) These numbers are compounded as in English, except that
‘ and ’ is not used: yiiz otuz, ‘ a hundred (and) thirty * ; bin elli,
‘ a thousand (and) fifty \
In the numbers from eleven to nineteen, the accent is on the
on. In compound numbers above twenty, it is the last syllable
of the units figure which is accented : yirmi sekiz, ‘ twenty-eight ’ ;
otuz alti, ‘ thirty-six * ; elli bir, * fifty-one ’.
dort yiiz otuz iki , ‘ 432 ’ ; bin on iig, ‘ 1013 ’ ; bin dokuz yiiz elli iig,
‘ ! 953 ’ i .wdi milyon yedi yuz yetmig yedi bin yedi yii» yetmig yedi ,
* 7 - 777 *777 * (Turks put a full stop after the thousands where we
put a comma).
(2) Words preceded by a number do not normally take the
plural suffix, as the use of a number greater than one necessarily
implies plurality : o(Uz be$ yil, 6 thirty-five years ’ ; iki focuk, * two
children’; yedi ada, ‘seven islands’; iig ay, ‘three months’.
So with hag, ‘ how many? ’ ; kag gocuk, ‘ how many children? ’
The exceptions to this rule consist in a few expressions relating
to well-known things: yedi adalar, ‘ the Seven (Ionian) Islands ’;
iig aylar, ‘ the Three (Sacred) Months (of the Islamic year) ’.
(3) Certain words, the commonest being tane (‘ grain ’), less
commonly aded (‘ number ’), may be inserted between number
and noun without affecting the translation (like the Pidgin
English * piecec ’) : iki bilet or iki tane bilet, ‘ two tickets ’. If
the noun is not expressed, tane must be used : Kag bilet istiyor-
sunuz? — Iki tane istiyorum, ‘How many tickets dp you want? —
I want two ’. ba$ (‘ head ’) is often used in the same way when
enumerating livestock : elli bag manda, ‘ fifty (head) water-buffalo ’ ;
LESSON FOUR 51
otuz ba$ koyun , * thirty sheep *. Note also dort ba$ sojan, 4 four
onions \
(4) The rules of vowel harmony and consonant assimilation
must be observed when writing figures: ‘from five to seven \
beaten yedi-ye , is written j ten yye ; from nine to sixteen ’, dokuz-dan
on alti-ya , is written gdan i6ya . ‘In 1953 * is ig^te, In the
example at the end of § 50, the i outside the bracket is the def.
obj. case-ending of on bef bin-i , the number being the object of the
verb gegrhiflir.
(5) 4 once, twice, three times ’, etc. Use defa or kere , ‘ time,
occasion ’ : bir defa , iki defa , iif defa {bir kere , etc.).
(6) In, e.g., ‘ one or two ‘ or ’ is not translated : Onu be$ alti
defa gbrdiim , ‘ I’ve seen her five (or) six times
(7) fork, ‘ forty is used for an indefinitely high number,
‘ umpteen ktrk yilda bir (‘ in forty years one ’), * Once in a
blue moon \ Cf. § 160 (3).
Note ( i ) : Besides c hundred yiiz can mean 4 face ’ or 4 cause
N.B. iki-yiiz-lii (§ 86), 4 two-faccd
Note (ii) : Dortler (‘ the Fours ’) means 4 the Four Great Powers \
92. Demonstratives
( 1 ) bu y this {next to the speaker), this which precedes
fu, this, that { just over there), this which follow's
0 , that {right over there or out of sight)
0 is also used for 4 he, she, it ’, and the table of declension of 0
at § 70 serves as a model for bu and $11 as well ; they add the
pronominal n before suffixes : bundan , 4 from this ’, §una, 4 to that ’,
fiwlar, 4 those
Like their English equivalents, these words are used as adjectives
or pronouns :
0 kitap , that book
0 ba$ha, that (is) different
bu saat-i buldunuz mud, did you find this watch?
bunu buldunuz mu, did you find this?
askerler , those soldiers
funlar asker degiller, those (people) aren’t soldiers
(2) boyle , thus, in this way, like this, such
foyle, thus, in this way, like this, such
dyle , thus, in that way, like that, such
52
TURKISH
The shades of meaning of these words are like those of bu , §u
and o . They may be used adverbially :
boyle yaptim, thus I did
oyle diifiiniiyor , that’s how he thinks
Or adjectivally :
boyle bir adam, a man like this
$dyle bir gun , such a day
oyle bir fxrtina , such a storm, a storm like that
93. Postpositions
In English, words such as 4 in 4 from 4 to \ 4 with * are
called prepositions because they precede the noun to which they
refer. As wc have seen, 4 of 4 to \ 4 from 4 at ’ are represented
in Turkish by case-suflixes attached to the end of a word. Other
English prepositions are represented by postpositions; suffixes or
separate words following the word to w hich they refer.
Some postpositions require the word they govern to have a
case-ending; compare the English use of the objective case with
prepositions: 4 to u'honu by me, with him, like her ’ (not 4 who, I,
he, she ’).
94. Postpositions with Absolute or Genitive Case
ill* •lel-h , with, by means of gibi, like
kadcu , as . . . as if in, for
(u) The pronouns Lim, 4 who? ben, sen , 0 , biz. siz, bu and ju
(fj§ 70, q 2 ). but not the plurals onlnr, bizler , etc., take the genitive
ending before these postpositions. ( b ) Other words remain in the
absolute form.
(a) kim-in He ( kiminle ), with whom?
bu-min gibi , like this
o-nun h adar guzel, as beautiful as she
siz- in if in, for you
»;ld baba-m z ile ( babnmzla ), with your father
bu adam gibi , like this man
0 kiz k adar guzel, as beautiful as that girl
sizler if in, for you
Note (i) : ile. In conversation the unaccented suffixed form
-lej-la is almost always used : vapur-la, * by steamer ’ ; tren-le, 4 by
train ’. If attached to a word ending in a vowel, the form is
-ylej-yla (cf. idi, §82 (1 )) : ustura-yla , 4 with the razor’; kedi-yfe.
LESSON FOUR
53
4 with the cat \ It combines with the 3rd-person suffix -(j)i 4 to
form an invariable -iyle : kedi-siyle , * with his cat * ; babasiyle ,
4 with his father * ; goziyle , 4 with his eye \
He may be reinforced by berdber or birlikte , 4 together ’ : Ahmet-te
beraber geldim , ‘ I came, together with A. 9 ; Kiz-lar-la birlikte gittik ,
4 we went, along with the girls \
bununla beraber (‘ together with this ’) means 4 in spite of this,
nevertheless
Note (fi) : gibi. gibi may take plural or possessive suffixes : bu
gibiler 4 (these likes), people of this sort ’ ; o adam-vn gibi-si-ni gordiinuz
mii? 4 Have you seen the like of this man? *
Note (iii) : kadar. This word is originally a noun meaning
4 amount Used as a postposition without a following adjective
it means 4 as big as \ 4 the size of': bacak kadar bir focuk ( 4 leg-
amount a child 4 a child the size of a leg, knee-high \ After a
number it means 4 about ’ : on kadar ufak, 4 about ten aircraft \
Bu kadar means 4 this much
Note (iv) : if in. The suffixed form -fin is occasionally seen :
senin-fin, 4 for you \ A common use of if in is to express purpose,
with the infinitive : omt gormek if m geldim , 4 I came (for) to see
him Compare 4 I'm off to Louisiana for to see my Susie-
Anna
Some uses of if in overlap those of the dative case : bunu size
(or sizin ifin) a/dim, 4 I bought this for you It also translates
4 of * in 4 what do you think of him? ' : onun ifin ne dufiinuyorsunuz ?
95. Translation ok 4 and ’
The general equivalent is ce 9 but to join two nouns or pronouns
together He is more common: anne-m-le baba-m, 4 my mother and
my father \ ve is used: ( a ) before the last of a series of three or
more words with the same grammatical function — arinem , babam
ve kardefim , 4 my mother, iny lather and my brother ’ ; ( b ) be-
tween two adjectives : akilh ve fahfkan bir talebe , 4 an intelligent
and industrious student ' ; (r; to join two main verbs — diikkan-a
gilti ve kibrit aldi, 4 he went to the shop and bought matches \
dejda , properly 4 also may often be rendered 4 and *. This
word must not be confused with the locative suffix ; 4 also * is a
separate word, and is never accented, while the locative suffix is
written as part of the word it belongs to, and may be accented:
siz de, 4 you also, and you ' ; sizde, 4 in you
A de B de means 4 both A and B \
TURKISH
54
Vocabulary 4
Days of the Week
pazar , Sunday
pazartesi 9 Monday
salty Tuesday
gar$amba, Wednesday
pergembe, Thursday
cumdy Friday
cumartesi , Saturday
ady him (- stni ), name
at (-It), horse
ay, month, moon
bakan , minister
bilet (-//), ticket
buz, ice
gargi, market
gimkii , gunki, because
dunyd, world
erken, early
gecey night
gezmek , to stroll, go round, tour
(a plac e)
guriy day
guzel , beautiful, fine
hafta , week
hava, weather, air, climate
usiz, lonely, deserted
kart, wife, woman
Kibns, Cyprus
koca , husband
lazim, necessary
meklup , letter
mesele , problem, question
Omur (- mru ), life
posta, post, mail
piyes, play (theatrical)
sag , hair
soguk, cold
yy, thing
tayydre , wftfA, aeroplane
yagmur , rain
to-morrow
yoksa, or, otherwise*
vo/. road, way, journey
Exercise 4
(A) Translate into English : (i) Ni^in bitgun adalara gitmiyor-
sunuz ?— (Junku hava gu/el dcgil. (2) Bu mesele-yi sizin-le
konu$mak istiyorduk. (3) Kari-m ile ben dun Kapali Car§i-\i
gezdik. (4) Siz Tiirkiye’ye u<;akla mi (tavyare ile mi) geldiniz
yoksa vapurla mi? (5) Bu ak^am i^in 119 bilet-im var, bizim-le
beraber geliyorsunuz degil mi? -Maalesef vaktim yok; yarin
sabah Ankara’ya gidiyorum, bu gece erken yatmak istiyorum.
(6) Yagmur-lu bir goce-de, iki at-li issiz bit yolda gidiyordu.
(7) Ben omrumde boyle bii &ey gormedim. (8) Bir yilda (senede)
on iki ay vardir. Bir ayda dort hafta vardir. Bir haftada yedi
gun vardir, Giinlerin isimleri (adlari) §unlar-dir: pazar,
pazartesi, sail, 9ar§amba, per$cmbe, cuina, cumartesi. Bunlan
ogrendiniz mi? (9) Diinyada Istanbul kadar guzel bir §ehir
var mi? (10) Bu mcktub-u u$ak posta-si-yle gondermek l&zim.
LESSON FOUR
55
(B) Translate into Turkish : (i) My wife has gone to Cyprus in
order to see her father, (a) Is that yellow-haired girl your sister?
(3) My father and my brother did not like the new play. (4) How
many tickets do you want to buy? — Five. (5) There are three
hundred and sixty-live days in a year. (6) The new Minister is
coming this morning by air (‘ by aeroplane *) from Istanbul.
(7) This water is like ice ; this water is as cold as ice. (8) Why
are you strolling hatless and coatless in this weather? (9) Un-
fortunately my husband does not understand me. (io) Do you
know that man? Why is he looking at us?
LESSON FIVE
96. Adverbs
(1) Turkish is not so fussy as English about the distinction
between adjectives (which qualify nouns) and adverbs (which
modify verbs). If your behaviout is good , you behave well ; in
Turkish, if your behaviour is iyi } you behave iyi.
(2) Words used adverbially may be 1 repeated :
derin derin diifundiim, I thought deeply (deep deep)
yava$ yavaf gidiyorlar, they are going slowly (slow slow)
Note that in such doublets the accent is on the last syllable of the
first element.
(3) There is also a suffix -(ej^aj-cej-ca (§ 44) which is used for
making adverbs. This suffix is not accented :
giizel, beautiful ; giizelce , beautifully, properly
lisan, dil , language; lisanca , dilce , linguistically
hukumel , government ; hukumet(e , governmentally, on the
part of the government
ben, I ; benci\ for my part, to mv mind
dogrt / , straight; dogruca , directly
Words which show the pronominal n before case-endings show
it also before this .suffix: bu, e this ? ; bunca, ‘in this way, this
much
Tiirkge konupnak , which we translate ‘ to speak Turkish really
means ‘to speak in-the-Turkish-way ’. Words so formed, by
adding - ce to nouns of nationality, though strictly adverbs, arc
used as adjectives --Jngilizce sbzliih, ‘English dictionary’ — or
nouns — Fransizca-m zayij \ ‘ my French is weak
97. Adverbs of Place
These are formed by adding to the demonstratives (§ 92) or
to tie ‘ what? ’ the syllable re/ra , followed by the appropriate
case-ending. The accent is on the first syllable of the word so
formed :
bu-ra-da , in this place, here; ne-re-de (nerde)* in what place,
where ?
5b
LESSON FIVE . 57
bu-ra-dan , from this place, hence; ne-re-den ( [nerden ), from
what place, whence ?
bu-ra-ya , to this place, hither; ne-re-ye , to what place,
whither ?
So too : orada, oradan, oraya ; furada , furadan. $uraya, there, thence,
thither.
But as ‘ hither, hence, whence etc., are not in use in spoken
English, care must be taken to add the right suffix when trans-
lating into Turkish :
Where are you ? Neredc-siniz ?
Where arc you going ? Nereye gidiyorsunuz ?
Where have you come from? Nereden geldiniz?
He is standing there, §urada duruyor.
He is going there, §uraya gidiyor.
He has left (gone froml there, Suradan gitti.
Bu-ra , etc., are not used nowadays in the absolute form. If we
want to say, e.g., ‘ This place is beautiful it is usual to add the
‘^id-person suffix: Burasi giizel ( k this-its-placc ’ ). Burasi neresi?
‘What place is this ? ’. Radio Ankara identifies itself thus:
Burasi Ankara Turkiye, 1 This (place) is Ankara, Turkey ’.
Note (i ) : The heading of this paragraph refers to the English
grammatical category. orada s buraya , etc., arc no more adverbs
than are odada , ‘ in the room or sinernaya , ‘ to the pictures ’.
Note ( ii ) : -li (§ 8G) may be used with - rej-ra : Nereli-siniz ? (‘ you
are characterized-by-what-place? ’). ‘where arc you from?’ Ben
Istanbul -lu-yum. Siz de orah misimz ? ‘ I'm an Istanbul man. Are
you a- nativc-of-t hat-place too? 1
Note ( lii ) : The words described above may take the plural
suffix : burada , ‘ here 5 ; bur alar da , ‘ in these parts ’ ; oralarda ,
‘thereabouts’. Note also tizak-ta and uzaklarda , ‘far off 1 ;
yakin-da and yakinlarda, ‘ near by, soon, recently ’.
98. The Suffix -hi
- ki (see § 37 (2)) may be added:
(1) To the genitive case of a noun or pronoun, to make a
pronoun meaning ‘ the one which is . . whatever precedes:
benim , of me ; benimki f the one which is of me, mine
Ahmed-in-ki, the one which belongs to Ahmet
onlar-in-ki , theirs
58 TURKISH
(a) To the locative case of a noun or pronoun, or to an adverb
of place or time. The resulting word may be used as pronoun
or adjective :
bugiin, to-day ; bugiinkii gazete , to-day’s newspaper
burada, here; buradaki kitap , the book which is here;
buradakiler , those who are here
oda-m-da, in my room; odamdaki telefon , the telephone
which is in my room; sizin odamzdaki , the one in your
room
Any case-endings added to pronouns formed with - ki are pre-
ceded by the pronominal n :
benimkinden , from mine
onunkinin , of his
sizinkine , to yours
bizimkinde , in ours
onlannkini aldt , he took theirs
99. Comparison of Adjectives and Adverbs
(1) daha, more; en, most.
uzun , long iyi, good, well gok, much
daha uzun , longer daha iyi , better daha gnk 7 more
en uzun, longest en iyi, best en gak, most
az, little; azfaydah (little useful), of little use
daha az, less ; daha az faydalu less useful
en az, least; en az faydah, least useful
* than * is expressed by the ablative suffix ; for ‘ this is better
than that ’ Turkish says * this is better from that ’ — Example (a).
In sentences containing a ‘ than \ daha may be omitted — Example
(b). It cannot be omitted if there is no 4 than ’ — Example (c).
Examples :
(a) Bu, fundan daha ‘>'-<^ This is better than that .
(b) Bu, §undan vyidir j
(c) §unu begenmiyorum ; bu daha iyidir , I don't like that; this
is better.
Evirniz sizin- ki-n-den (daha) az rutubetlidir , Our house is less,
damp than yours.
Dunya-nin en yiiksek lepe-si Himaldyalardadir, The world’s
highest peak is in the Himalayas.
LESSON FIVE 59
(2) Apart from the use of en , Turkish has two methods of making
superlatives: (a) by repetition (cf. § 96 (2)) :
derin diigunceler , deep thoughts; derin derin diigunceler, pro-
found thoughts
garip hareketler , strange actions ; gar ip garip hareketler , extra-
ordinary actions
(b) by prefixing a syllable resembling the first syllable of the
word but ending in m, p> s or r. This prefix is accented :
bafka, other ; bambajka, totally different
temiz, clean; tertemiz , spotless
siyah, black ; simsiyah , jet black
biitun , whole ; biisbiitun , entirely
dogru , straight; dosdogru, dead straight
yeni, new ; yepyeni , brand new
kirmizi, red ; kipkmmzi , bright red
100. Uses of the Ablative Case
(1) The ablative indicates the point of origin or departure.
Hence its use in comparisons : bu fundan buyuklur , ‘ this is bigger
than that *, might be rendered 4 this, taking that as starting-
point, is big Hence also its use with verbs denoting avoidance,
separation, withdrawal (‘from’). It indicates the cause from
which something proceeds: bu sebepten, 4 for this reason *; on dan
koikayorum , 4 I am afraid of him* (my fearing arises from him).
Gitmedim ; para-m yok-tu da on-dan , 4 I didn’t go; I had no money,
that’s why ’ (* and from that ’). It translates 4 of* as in 4 one of
the children ’ : gocuklar-dan bir-i (‘ from the children, one-of-them ’) ;
and in * I have no news of him * : on-dan haber-im yok . * I am
sure of this * : bundan emin-im. It indicates the material out of
which something is made : yeni masa-yi ceviz-den yapiyor , ‘ he is
making the new table of walnut \
(2) English ‘ through, by way of ’ is rendered by the ablative :
buradan gegmediler , ‘ they did not pass through here ’ ; pencere-den
baktyor , ‘ she is looking through the window ’ ; kopriiye bu yol-dan
gittiy 4 he went to the bridge by this road ’ ; elim-den tuitu , 1 he
held me by my hand * (elim-i tuttu would be 4 he held my hand *).
(3) Some adverbs are formed with the ablative suffix, e.g.,
sonradan, 4 afterwards ’ ; onceden , 4 beforehand ’ ; eskiden y 4 in the
old days * (not 4 from . . . ’) ; goktan, 4 long since * ; sahiden ,
‘ really, truly N.B. dogru-dan dogru-ya , 4 directly \
6o
TURKISH
Note : Words construed with the ablative will be shown pre-
ceded by -den, of course as an abbreviation for ‘ -den or - dan
according to vowel harmony \ As a reminder that the ablative
is required with certain words, the beginner may find it helpful
to memorize, for example, - den korkmak , 4 to fear as ‘ to be afraid
from \
Similarly, words construed with the dative will be shown pre-
ceded by - e .
1 01. Postpositions with AblatiVe Case
- den evvel, - den mice , before
-i den sonrn , after
-den do lay i, -den dliirii, on account of, because of
-den beri (see Notes), since, for the last . . .
-den ha$ka, other than, apart from, besides
Distinguish between -den evvel, once , so nr a and the same words
used with the absolute case:
w'f gun evvel (once), three days before, ago
bundan evvel (once), before this
iki saat soma , two hours after, later
salt-dan soma, after Tuesday
o gimden ddrt gun soma, four days after that day
Note (i) : The present tense is used of activity that began in the
past and is still going on, just as in French (which is why one
may hear Continental visitors saying, k T am in London since
three weeks’). Ocqk-tan ben Ankara' da oturuyorunu ' I have been
living in A. since January. Iki ay-dan beri Banka-da f alifiyor , ‘ For
the last two months (since two months) he lias been working at
the Bank.*
Note (ii) : beri is sometimes written as a suffix: iki aydanberi.
1 02. The Verb: Future and Future-past Tenses
The tense-suffix is - eceki-acak , to which are added the ‘ I am/
was' endings (cf. §88). Remember that k before a vowel
becomes g. Here are the future and future-past tenses of gitmek
(gid-), 4 to go 5 :
gidecegim , I shall go gidecektim , I w r as about to go or I
should go (if . . .)
gideceksin, thou wilt go gidecektin , thou wort about to go, etc.
gidecek(tir), he will go gidecekti, he was about to go
LESSON FIVE
6l
gidecegiz , we shall go gidecektik , we were about to go
gideceksiniz , you will go gidecektiniz, you were about to go
gidecekler, they will go gidecektiler j about t0
gideceklerdi J 1
The Negative and Interrogative are formed as shown in §§ 89, 90 :
gitmiyecegirn, I shall not go
gitmiyecek misiniz? will you not go?
gidecek miydik ? were we about to go ?
gitmiyecek miydiniz? weren’t you about to go?
gitmiyecekler mi ? will they not go ?
Note : We do not usually say 4 You will come! and you will see . .
but ‘ You will come and sec . . .* So in Turkish there is no need
to say geleceksiniz ve gdrcceksiniz ; it is enough to say gelecek , gorecek -
siniz (‘ about- to-corne, aboul-to-see you are ’). This may be done
with any tense except the past tense in -di (§81) : of. § 123.
103. Compound Verijs
There are a large number of expressions in ( ommon use made
up of a noun (often non-Turkish in origin'' and the verb etmek
(«/-), 4 to do’:
kabul elmek Uo do acceptance), to accept
te$kil etmek (to do forming), to constitute
telefon etmek (to do telephone), to telephone
In the older language, other words for 4 to do ’ were used in
such compounds, notably eylemek and kilm'ik. The former is still
in written use, especially' to avoid the constant repetition of etmek
(e.g., Exercise 14, sentence 18). The only compound in which
hlmak is used nowadays is namaz kdimk , 4 to perform the rites of
(Muslim) prayer
'The main accent in such compounds is on the last syllable of
the noun, except when the interrogative mi follows, when the
last syllable before the mi has the main accent : telefon ediyor , ‘ he
is ’phoning \ but telefon ediyor mu? 4 is he ’phoning? *
If the noun of such a compound is liable to a sound change
before a vowel (§§43, 45, 47), it is usually written as one word
with the etmek or eylemek :
ayirt , distinction ; ayirdetmek , to distinguish
af (- j)i ), pardon; of etmek , to pardon
sabir (-bn), patience, endurance; sabretmek, to be patient
( ayirdeylemek , off eylemek, sabreylemek)
62
TURKISH
104. ‘ It's raining 9
Turkish always supplies a subject for yagmzk, * to rain
giirlemek, ‘ to thunder * :
yagmur yagiyor (rain is raining), it’s raining
doluyagiyor (hail is raining), it’s hailing
karyagiyor (snow is raining), it’s snowing
gok gurluyor (sky is thundering), it’s thundering
and
Vocabulary 5
<z cab a, I wonder
bahis (- hsi ), discussion, topic;
-den bahselmck , to speak of,
mention
fifek } flower
durum , vaziyet , position, situation
geni}, wide, spacious
giil , rose (flower)
hal (§ 64), condition, state
hem . . . hem ( de ) . . both
. . . and . . .
her, every ; herhalde, in any case,
certainly
iktisddi , economic
kadin , woman, lady
kara, * siyah, black
Aim? who?
koku, smell, scent *
kopek, dog
ko$e , corner
lokanla , restaurant
meclis, assembly
millet (- ti), nation, religious
community
muvajfak, successful
nihayct, at last
resim (- smi ), picture
holiday
proposal, motion
tiyatro , theatre
toplanh , meeting
yardirn, help ; yardim etmek ,
to help
summer
yorulmak , to be tired, to weary
oneself
Exercise 5
(A) Translate hi to English : (1) Qali§acak, yorulacak ve nihavet
muvaffak olacaksmiz. (2) Oradaki kara otomobil kim-in? —
Bilmiyorum, herhalde benimki degil. (3) Arkada$miz nereli-
dir? — O, benim gibi, Londra-h-dir. (4) Yakmda mi Turkiye’ye
gideceksiniz ? — Pek yakmda degil, yaz tatil-i-nden sonra gidecegim.
(5) Babaniz bugiinkii trenle mi gidiyor, yoksa yarm-a mi kaliyor?
(6) Istanbul hem en btiytik, hem de en guzel $ehr-imiz-dir. (7)
§u resim, benim oda-m-da-ki gibidir, degil mi? — Evct, fakat
* Besides kara , ‘ black *, there is a noun kara meaning ‘ land ’ : kara
kuvvetleri, ‘ land-forces ’ ; kara sulari , ‘ territorial waters * ; kara-ya
gxkmak, 1 to disembark * (‘ go-out to-the-land ’).
LESSON FIVE
63
sizin-ki-n-den daha giizel-dir. (8) Ni^in oturdunuz da bana
yardim etmediniz? (9) §u iki kadmdan siyah-li-si Ba§bakan-m
kari-si-dir. (10) Buyiik Millet Meclis-i (B.M.M.) bu teklif-i
kabul edecek mi acaba? — Etmiyecek. (11) Bu mesele-den
bahsetmiyecek miydiniz? (js) Ben bu sabah karde§im-den
ewcl kalktim.
(B) Translate into Turkish : (1) We weren’t going to go to the
theatre, on account of to-morrow’s meeting. (2) What is that
man in the corner doing, I wonder? — He’s praying, isn’t he?
(3) Did the Grand National Assembly not accept the Minister’s
motion? (4) Our economic situation is now totally different.
(5) After the theatre, we went to the Station Restaurant. (6)
Orhan is both the biggest and the most intelligent of the children.
— Is he more intelligent than his own sister, I wonder? (7) Were
you speaking of to-day’s meeting? (8) His room is not as clean
as mine ; mine’s spotless. (9) I held the child by the hand, and
wc passed together across Galata Bridge. (10) What’s the name
of your brother’s dog? — He has no dog; the name of mine is
Karabash. (1 1) In my opinion, the flower with the most beautiful
scent is the rose. (12) At last we’ve found a house with a spacious
garden.
LESSON SIX
105. The Verb — Aorist Tenses
The aorist (‘ unbounded *) tenses, present and past, express
habitual or continuous activity: 11 he goes to school ‘ she used
to live in France \ The tense-suffix, is -r, added directly to vowel
stems :
anla-mak , to understand ; anlar , he understands
taft-mak , to carry; ta§v\ he carries
A vowel is inserted between the r and consonant-stems, according
to the following rules:
( 1 ) ( Consonant-stems of one syllabic form their aorist by adding
- er,'-ar :
et-mck % to do ; ecl-er , he does
git-mek , to go ; gid-er. he goes
gik-mak , to go up, out ; gik-cir. he goes up, out
sor-mak, to ask; sor-ar , he asks
Exceptions (all these arc common and must be known) :
Aorist in -ir: aimak , to take; kalmak , to remain; sernmak,
to think; varmak , to reach: ahr , kahr , sarnr, varir.
Aorist in -ur\ olmak , to be, become; bulmak , to find;
dutmak, to stand; vurmak , to strike: olur , bulur, durur ,
vurur.
Aorist in -ir : gclmek , to come ; vermek , to give ; bilmek, to
know: gelir, verir , 6 / 7 />.
Aorist in -ur : gbrmek , to see ; olmek, to die : gbrur, olur.
(2) Consonant-stems of more than one syllable add -/r 1 :
kullan-mak, to use ; kullan-ir , he uses
gah$-mah\ to work, try ; galtf-ir, he works, tries
goster-rnek , to show; gosler-ir , he shows
getir-mek , to bring ; getir-ir , lie brings
dokun-rnaky to touch ; dokun-ur, he touches
bksiir-mek 9 to cough ; bksur-iir, he coughs
64
LESSON SIX 65
(3) To these aorist bases are added the ‘ I am/was * endings,
with the exception of dir (cf. § 88) :
gosterir im , I show gosterir dim, I used to show, should
show (if. . .)
gosterirsin , thou showest gosterirdin, thou didst show
gosterir, ho shows gosterirdi, he used to show
gosteririz, we show gosterir dik, we used to show
gosterir siniz^ you show gosterir diniz, you used to show
gobbler, they show gdsterirlerdi j uscd tQ show
gosterir diltr j 1
So also : goruriitn , gbtursun , etc., 4 I see * ; bulurimu bulursun , etc.,
‘ I find ’ j kullamrdim, ‘ I used to use ’ ; bksururdimtiZy < you used to
cough \
10G. The Aorist Negative
Unlike other tenses, the negative of the aorist is formed by
adding to the negative stem (§ 83) not the tense-suffix r but a
which is omitted in the 1st person singular and plural. A further
irregularity is in the accentuation. The following models should
therefore be learned by heart :
gelmcmek, not to come almamak , not to take
gel mem, I do not come almam , I do not take
gelmezsin , thou dost not come tdmazsiti , thou dost not take
gelmeZy he does not come almaz , he does not take
gehneyiz , we do not come almayiz, wc do not take
gdmezsinizy you do not come almazsimz , you do not take
gelmezleu they do not come almazlar , they do not take
The aorist past is formed by adding -dim, -din, etc., to the
negative aorist base: gelmezdim, gelmezdin , gelmezdi , gtlrnezdik ,
gelmezdiniz , gelmezlerdi or gelmezdiler , ‘ I used not to come etc.
The interrogative is regular — miyim , miydim , etc., following the
base, positive or negative :
gelir rnisiniz? do you come?
gelmez miydiniz? used you not to come?
almaz miydik ? used we not to take ?
G
66
TURKISH
107. Uses of the Aorist
(1) Statements of general validity:
kahve severim , I like coffee
iki iki daha dort eder , two plus two make four (two, two more,
make four)
(2) Expressions of willingness or readiness (compare * We go
anywhere, do anything ’) :
Bam bir kibrit ver-ir rnisiniz ? Will you give me a match ?
Evct, ver-ir-irn , Yes I will.
It is therefore used to express promises: Gelirim dedim mi,
gelirim ben , ‘ “ I’ll come ” did I say ? (Then) I’ll come \
(3) Sometimes the present and aorist lenses seem to be used
indifferently ; biliyorum or bilirim, 6 I know ’. Practice is the best
guide, but here is a working rule :
oku-yor-um, I am reading oku-yor-dum , I was reading
oku-r-um , I read or I shall read oku-r-dum , I used fo read
oku-yacag-im , I am going to read oku-yaeak-tim , I was going
to read
Note (i): affederuniz (‘you pardon’), ‘I beg your pardon’;
tegekkur ederim (‘I do thank’), ‘thank you’; olur (‘it comes to
be’), ‘ it is possible, all right, O.K.’ ; oltnaz (‘ it does not come to
be’), ‘it is impossible, it won’t do’.
Note ( ii ) : islcmez , ‘ he does not want is colloquially used for
* I don’t want it c.g., when shaking off importunate street-
traders. It is conventionally explained as being short for can
iStemeZi c (My) soul does not want ’.
108. ‘ While ’
‘ While ’ is translated by the invariable and unaccented suffix
-ken or the separate word iken, strictly ‘ while being the i- being
the stem of the old verb ‘ to be ’ (§ 82), both commonly used after
the aorist base, as in the first two examples :
Oskitdar'a gider iken ( giderken ) bir mendil buldum , While going
to Scutari, I found a handkerchief.
0 hig farap igmezken diin akfam bir gige igti 9 While he never
drinks wine, yesterday evening he drank a bottle.
Askerken Kibris’a gittim, While I was in the Army (soldier-
while) I went to Cyprus.
LESSON SIX
67
Vaktiniz var iken , nigin bu makale-yi okumazsimz ? While you
have the time (your-time existent while-being), why
don’t you read this article ?
Note that the subject of the * while * clause is not shown by
the aorist, which remains in the base-form, but has to be indicated
externally; in the first example it is ‘ I the subject of the main
verb buldum , in the second it is k he ’ : O.
109. ‘ As soon as *
The positive and negative aorist bases used together mean ‘ as
soon as * :
Ben gelir gelmcz , Ahmet gthti , As soon as 1 came, Ahmet went
out (I coming not-coming, i.e., when 1 was on the
dividing line between arrival and non-arrival).
Mektub-umiz-u alir almaz baba-m-a go s ter dim* As soon as I
received your letter I showed (it) to my father.
Note : But is ter istemez means * willy-nilly \ while olur olrnaz
means ‘any old . . just any . . : Bu if ister istemez olacak,
* This thing is going to be, like it or not \ Bu, olur olmuz adam-in
kdr-i degd, ‘This isn’t just any man’s job’.
1 1 o. Numerals : Ordinal
(1) In § 91 we saw the Turkish equivalents of ‘ one, two, three
etc., the cardinal numerals. Ordinal numerals—* first, second,
third ’ — are formed by adding -nci A to cardinal numerals ending
in a vowel, -n?a 2 3 4 to those ending in a consonant :
birinci, first
ikinci , second
u^uricii, third
dorduncii, fourth
bcfinci, fifth
altmci , sixth
yedinci, seventh
sekizinci, eighth
dokuzumu, ninth
onuncu , tenth
yirminci, twentieth
bininci , thousandth
otuz befinci, thirty-fifth
(2) Besides birinci , ilk also is used for * first * primary
* Last ’ is son , which as a noun means * end
(3) From kag, * how many ? ’ is formed kaginci, * how-manyeth ? * :
Oglunuz simf-i-nm kaginci- si-dir ? (Your-son of-his-class is- its-
how-manyeth), What’s your son’s positf&n in class?
68
TURKISH
(4) Just as we abbreviate ‘ first, second, third etc., to 1st, 2nd,
3rd and so on, the Turkish equivalents are abbreviated to iinci,
sinci , gtincti, sometimes to ici 9 sci , geii, etc. With names of
sovereigns, the Roman numerals are used : Mehmet II, pronounced
ikinci Mehmet . Some writers have the logical, but at first sight
confusing, habit of putting the numeral first : II Mehmet , VI Corf
(§42), II Elizabet.
in. Fractions
There are three words for 4 half*-;
(1) bufiik is used only with whole numbers, and must always be
translated ‘ and a half’ : iki biquk, 4 ’ ; kirk doknz biifuk, 4 49b *. .
(2) yari is used —
(a) as a noun — $u kitaplann yari-si liirkge , 4 half of those
books are Turkish gece yarisi (‘ night its-half ), 4 mid-
night
(b) as an adjective, to be translated * mid- ’ — yari gece ,
4 midnight ’.
(c) as an adverb, modifying adjectives — -yari deli , 4 half-
mad yari yavatlak, 4 half-round ’.
(3) yarim is an adjective meaning 4 half’:
bir yarim saat , a half-hour
bir yarim clma , a half-apple
yanmada , peninsula (half-island)
4 Quarter ’ is feyrek, little used except with saat : bir feyrek saat ,
4 a quarter-hour, a*'cjuaiter of an hour ’.
Other fractions are put in the form 4 one in five \ 4 three in
seven ’ : bef-te bir, 4 } ' ; yedi-dc u j , 4 } ’ ; yuzde on, 4 r ’ 0 °o ’•
para-nm dorlle bir-i (of the money, in four its-onc), a quarter
of the money
kovlu-Ler-in yuz-de doksan-i, ninety per cent of the villagers
As the yiizde , 4 in hundred, per cent ’, comes first, so too does the
percentage sign : % 90.
1 12. 4 Two each ’
Distributive numerals are formed by adding - erj-ar to numbers
ending in a consonant, -$erl-$nr to those ending in a vowel : hirer ,
ihifer, lifer , dorder , be$er, altifar , 4 one each, two each, three each ’,
etc. 4 Half each’ is irregular: yanm$ar. fycuklara bir elma
LESSON SIX 69
verdim, * I gave the children an apple but gocuklara hirer elma
verdim , ‘ I gave the children an apple each \
Bize ktrk beger lira verdi , He gave us £45 each.
Askerler tiger tiger yuruyorlar (cf. § 96 (2)), The soldiers are
marching in threes, three by three.
1 13. The Suffix -ci
denotes regular occupation or profession, like our ‘ -ist \
telgrafy telegraph ; telgrafgi , telegraphist
kapi, door, gate ; kapici, porter, doorkeeper
siit, rnilk; siitgii, milkman
Uilun , tobacco; tutiincu , tobacconist
spor, sports, games ; sporcu , sportsman, athlete
yalan, falsehood ; yalanci, liar, imitation
inat, obstinacy ; inatgi , pig-headed
yol, road, way ; yolcu, traveller
eskiy old; eskici, rag-and-bone man
milliyet , nationality; milliyetgi, nationalist
ne? what?; neti ? of what profession ?
1 14. Tiif. Suffix -lik
(1) Its most important use is to make abstract nouns:
giizel , beautiful ; giizellik, beauty
goctik, child; g ocukluk , childhood, childishness
akilsiz , unintelligent; akilsizhk, stupidity
steak, hot; sicaklik, heat
asker, soldier; askerlxk , military service
hen , I ; benlik , identity, personality
bir , one; birlik, unity, unit, union
milliyetgi , nationalist; milliyetgiUk , nationalism
ra/cH, traveller; yolculuk , travel, travelling
(2) Another common use is to make adjectives and nouns from
numerical expressions ;
A'zjz, person ; yemek, food ; w'f ki$ilik yemek , food for three
people
posta pul-Uy postage-stamp; £*7 kura$luk posta pul-lariy five-
piastre stamps
day ; iki gmliik yol , two-day journey
ihtiyar , old (man) ; seksenlik bir ihtiyar, an~old man of eighty
70
TURKISH
(3) It makes adjectives and nouns showing the purpose for
which something is intended or suitable :
komiir, coal ; komurluk, coal-hole, bunker
odun, wood; odunluk , wood-shed, -pile
soman , straw; samanhk , straw-rick
kumaj, material; perde , curtain; perdelik kuma curtaining
material
gel in, bride ; gelinlik kizlar , marriageable girls
cermet, paradise ; cennetlik, destined for paradise
tehennem , hell; cthennemlik , (ii) destined for hell, ( b ) stoke-
hold of a Turkish bath
korku, fear; korkuluk , scarecrow
gbz, eye; gbzluk, eyeglasses, spectacles
cvlat, child; evldlhk , adopted child
Note (i) : fimdilik . bugiinliik (‘ for now, for to-day ') are used
adverbially: §imdilik Alla ha ismarladih {§ 177), ‘ Good-bye for
now \ Bugunliik bu kadar yeter , * That’s enough for to-day (this
amount suffices for to-day ' ).
Note (ii ) : The word ‘odalisque’ is from the Turkish odalik ,
* (girl) for the (bed-) room
1 15. Uses of tiie Dative Case
The dative shows the recipient or destination, the point to
which an action is directed. It is therefore common with verbs
of motion and with adjectives conveying such ideas as proximity
and conformity. Usually it may be translated ‘ to but some-
times English idiom demands a different preposition, as shown
by the italicized words in the English of the following examples.
Examples 8 to 12 show some Turkish verbs which take a dative,
although their English equivalents have a direct object.
1. Bn (ifekleri siz-e aldim, 1 bought these flowers for you.
2. Resimler-c bakiyor . She is looking at the pictures.
3. Ilaslalar-a bakar , She looks after the patients.
4. Kaletni cebim-e koydum, I put the pen into my pocket.
5. Et-e tuz koydum , I put salt on the meat.
6. Sandalye-ye {yerim-e) oturdum, I sat down on the chair {in
my place).
7. Pusula-ya adresini yazdu He wrote his address on the chit.
8. Karde$iniz siz-e benziyor. Your brother resembles you.
9. Oda-ya girdik, We entered the room.
LESSON SIX
71
10. Ifimiz-e ba§ladik f Wc began our work.
11. Vapur-a binditn> I boarded the steamer.
12. Koy^e vardiky We reached the village.
For the dative expressing purpose, see §§ 125 (neye?) and 130 (a).
The infinitive may be governed by a verb taking the dative:
yuriimeg-e ba$ladik , we began to walk.
1 16. Postpositions with the Dative Case
The meaning of the dative may be made more specific by means
of a postposition :
-e gore , according to, suitable for, applicable to, fitting
-< e kadai (the amount to), as far as, until (see Notes)
-e dogru (straight to), towards
-e kar$i (opposite, to), against, facing
-e ragmen , in spite of
Note (i) : -e kadar also translates * in ’, as in ‘ he will come in
five minutes be§ dakika-ya kadar gelecek, and ‘ by ’ as in ‘ If you
are not back by ten we’ll go without you \ For an example see
Exercise 12, (A) (3).
Note ( ti ) : Instead of - e kadar , some writers use the archaic and
provincial - e dek : sabah-a dek konufluk , “ we talked until morning
1 1 7. Verbs, Transitive and Intransitive
A verb is said to be used transitively when its action passes over
(‘ transits ’) to a direct object — * I ate a bun * — and intransitively
when there is no object expressed — ‘ When did you last eat ? *
Some verbs are never transitive: * he exists, we intervened \ In
Turkish, when a normally transitive verb is used without a direct
object there is a tendency to supply a cognate object in the shape
of a noun from the same root as the verb. Here are some com-
mon examples: yazi yazmak (‘to write writing’), ‘to write’;
yemek yemek, ‘ to eat ’ (the first yemek is a noun meaning ‘ eating,
meal, food ’, the second is the infinitive ‘ to eat ’) : dikif dikmek, ‘ to
sew * ; orgii ormek, * to knit ’. In the (a) sentences following, the
verb has an external direct object; in the ( b ) sentences there is
no external object, so a cognate object is supplied.
1. (a) Babam , odasinda mektuplanm yaziyor , My father is
writing his letters in his room.
(b) Babam , odasinda yazi yaziyor, My father is writing in
his room. ^
72
TURKISH
2. (a) Bugiin etyemedim , I have not eaten meat to-day.
(b) Bugiin yemek yemedim, I have not eaten to-day.
3. (a) Karim gbmlegimi dikiyor , My wife is sewing my shirt,
(b) Karim dikif dikiyor , My wife is sewing.
4. (a) Annem bana bir kazak oriiyor , My mother is knitting a
pullover for me.
(b) Annem orgii oriiyor , My mother is knitting.
1 18. Months of the Year
ocak , January
$ubat, February
mart (-/i), March
hisan, April
may is, May
haziran , June
temmuz , July
agustos, August
eylul, September
ckim 9 October
kasim , November
aralik , December
For four of the months, older names are still met with :
ikirui kanun. son kanun or kdnunusdni, January
birinci ley in, ilk ley in or teyinievvel, October
ikinti teyin, son tty in or Ityimsdm , November
birinci kdriun , ilk kanun or kdnunuevvel , December
1 In May ’ is mayis-ta or rnayis ay-i-nda. ‘ On the first of the
month ’ is ay-in bir-i-nde ( l on the one of the month *). # * On the
eighth of March ’ is sekiz marl-ta, written 8 martta. Roman
figures are often used to indicate the month, and the thousands
figure of the year is often omitted * 20. vi. 95$, ‘ 20th June 1953 \
Vocabulary 6
apart(i)man , flat, block of flats
ayak, foot; ayakkabi , footwear,
pair of shoes (§ 75 (4))
banka , bank
basmak , to press, print ; -e
basmak , to tread on
-e binmek , to mount, board
biraz, a little
cihan, world
degifmek , to change (intransitive)
dolap , cupboard
dolaynak , to walk about, roam,
go round
ekmek, bread
Jdiz , interest (bank)
fotograf, photograph
gdhhd , presumably, I believe
gene, vine, again, moreover
to/> {-rbi), war
tola, ill
hayhay, certainly !
account (bank)
insan , human being, man
kalern, pen
/jjgtl, paper
kazanmak, to win, gain
LESSON SIX
73
ki$i, person (usually with a
number)
•den korkmak , to be afraid of
kurus, piastre
kuf, bird
ku(iik, small
lulfen (first word in sentence),
please !
manav, fruiterer
meydan , open space, square
muhdrebe, battle, war; meydan
muharebeds pitched battle
miirekkep , ink
nesil (slijf generation
orduy army
ogle, noon
paha , price ; pahah , expensive
portakal, orange
radyo, radio, wireless
raf, shelf
rahat, comfortable
$iiphe, doubt
takini, team, set, gang
tam, exactly, just
tasarrufy savings
tramvayy tram
ugramaky to drop in, call
vagon, railway-carriage
zaman , time ; ne zarnan, when ?
Exercise 6
(A) Translate into English: (i) On bir-er ki^ilik iki takim.
(2) Siz bir yarim saat beklediniz, biz bir bu<^uk saat bckledik.
(3) Ekmcg-in yari-si-ni kim yedi? (4) Bu poriakal-lar-i dorder
kuru$-a aldnn. Manav biraz daha buyuklerine y editor kuru$
istedi, pahali buldum da almadim. (5) Barikalar kii^uk tasarruf
hesaplarma yuzdc iki bu^uk faiz verifier. (6) Sene-nin ilk kar-i
dun yagdi. (7) Son cihan harbi ne zaman ba$ladi? — 1)5 eyliil
K)39da. (8) Ben gene belki yarin ogleden sonra ugra-r-im.
(9) Turk ordusu 30 agustos ig22de dimyanm en buyuk meydan
muharebelerinden birini kazand 1. ( 1 o) Yatak- 1 1 vagonda yolculuk
$uphe-siz vok rahat bir$ey. (n) U<;uncu raf-ta-ki kagitlar kim-
in? (12) Galiba ayaginiz-a bastim. Affedersiniz, gormedim.
(B) Translate into Turkish : (1) Will you please bring me the
telephone-directory? — Certainly !— Thank you. (2) In order to
write, pen, paper and ink are necessary. (3) 1 walked about till
evening ; I did not find a pair of shoes to fit my foot. (4) Aren’t
you afraid of becoming ill? (5) As soon as we saw the tram,
Orhan began to run. (6) Your clock is standing on the second
shelf of that cupboard. (7) While 1 was boarding the tram this
morning in Taksim Square 1 saw three photographers. (8) This
flat is just suitable for you. (9) My wife sews while listening to
the wireless. (10) Man, by means of the aeroplane, flies in the
air like the birds (§53). (n) Every great city changes from
generation to generation. (12) She’s gone; I dojj’t know where.
LESSON SEVEN
1 19. Participles and Verbal Nouns
A participle is an adjective formed from a verb (it partakes of
the nature of both adjective and verb). English lias a present
and a past participle ; present, as, in * the glory is departing * and
past, as in ‘ the glory is departed \ ' It is unfortunate for our pur-
poses that in English present participles and verbal nouns have
the same suffix ‘-mg’; in Turkish they have different suffixes,
so the distinction must be clearly understood.
(a) His brother is swimming.
(b) His recreation is swimming.
In (a), ‘ swimming ’ is a participle, a verbal adjective lor which
we may substitute other adjectives: ‘ his brother is fat, energetic,
clever, married’. I11 ( b ), ‘swimming’ is a verbal noun, foi
which we may substitute other nouns: * his recreation is tennis,
music, woodwork \
The -mek j-rnak infinitive is one form of verbal noun; we may
translate dii$mek kolaydir as ‘ to fall is easy ’ or ‘ falling is easy
120. ‘ The man who is walking in the street.’
‘ The letter which will come to-morrow.’
* The woman who has bought this shop.’
Such expressions art? rendered in Turkish by means of participles,
thus: ‘ In-the-street walking man ’ (§65 (4)), ‘ To-morrow being-
about-to-come letter ’, ‘ This shop hazing-bought woman
1 21. Present Participle
m (y)en/-(y)an suffixed to verb-stem: olmak , ‘ to be olan, ‘ be-
ing, who or which is ’ ; olmamak , 1 not to be olmiyan, 1 not be-
ing, who or which is not ’ ; yurumek , ‘ to walk ’, yuriiyen, ‘ walking ’,
etc yiiriimuyen, ‘ not walking ’, etc.
The present participle represents action contemporaneous with
the main verb, so it is sometimes to be translated as past :
Konufan adam susacak , The man who-is-speaking will-be-
silent.
Konu$an adam sustu. The man who-was-speaking was-silent.
74
LESSON SEVEN
75
Like most adjectives, the present participle may be used as a
noun : instead of bun u bilen adamlar , ‘ men wlio-know this we
may say bum bilenler> 4 those who know this \
122. Past Participle
-mij 4 suffixed to verb-stem : olmuf , * having been, who or which
has been * ; olmamxg , 4 who lias not been 5 ; yiiriimtif , 4 who or
which has walked ’ ; yuriimemig , ‘ who or which has not walked *.
The English future perfect tense — 4 I shall have gone * — is
translated by the past participle plus the future of olmak : gitmif
olacagim ( 4 having-gone I-shall-be *).
123. Future Participle and Aorist Participle
These' arc identical with the future and aorist bases (§§ 102,
105, 106), which explains the use of the 4 I am/was ’ endings to
form the future and aorist tenses : gelecek is a participle meaning
1 about to come *, so geleceksiriz means ‘ you are about to come * ;
similarly, gehr is a participle meaning 4 habitually coming ’, while
gelmez is a participle meaning 4 not coming so gelirsiniz , gelrnez -
siniz mean 4 you come 4 you do not come \ It will be seen that
although, e.g., geleceksiniz is conventionally called the future
tense, the two elements composing it never lose their separate
identities. 4 I shall not come ’ is gelmiyecegim . but we may also say,
with a rather different emphasis, gel a ek dcgilim , 4 I’m not going to
come, I don’t intend to come \ So with the negative aorist
participle: bilmez degilim ( k not-knowing I-am-not ’), 4 I am not
ignorant *.
124. The Use of the Participles
It must be remembered that, while verbs usually come at the
end of the sentence, attributive adjectives always precede their
noun — kiz guzel(dir ), 4 the girl is pretty but giizel kiz , 4 the pretty
girl \ So bu saat $alar, 4 this clock strikes ’, but bu galar saat , 4 this
striking clock 0 sokak gikmaz . * that street does-not-come-out
but 0 gikmaz sokak or simply 0 gikrnaz , 4 that cul-de-sac \ Z aman
gelecek , 4 the time will come gelecek zaman , 4 future time ’.
To translate 4 who (which) has becn/will be ’, the past or
future participle respectively is usually followed by olan , 4 who
(which) is *.
gelen adam y the man who is coming
gelmig olan adam , the man who has come
geleck olan adam. y the man who is going to tsome
1 URKISH
76
Examples
memur meggul(dur) , the official is busy; rnefgul olan memur ,
the official who is busy
ism-t Hikmeftir , his name is Hikmet, wni Hikmet olan
kardegim, my brother, whose name is H (his-namc H.
being)
Koreden donmtif olanlar , those who have returned from Korea
( returned beings)
bizi Turkiye'ye guturecek olan ugak , the atroplanc which is
going to take 1 us to 1 urkey
paran olmiyan bir gtng, a youth who has no mont\ (his-
inoney not-bfing)
gali$mi)an lalebelerden , from the students who-do-not-work ,
£ aligmiyanlardan , from those who do not woik
babas 1 olmu$ olan ( ocuk , the c hild whos< F if lie r has died (who-
is his-fathc 1 -dead )
N B gelectk hafta , * nt xt week ’ , uegen haft a ‘ last week * (wht re
one would expect the past participle as in this next example)
gegmig zaman , ‘past time , gqjw/j/r, ‘in the past * gtlenkte, ‘in
the fuluie *
I2 r ) Jn irRROGATIVFS
Several of these have been note el alicadv but 110 hmni will be
done by re capitulating 1 m x tin ns in\ pie ceding won l into a
question tie, * what , figures in a good many intenogatives —
ni(in (foi m i(in ) 9 ‘ wli\ 1 , neredt where 7 ’ , net eye, ‘ to when ? ’ ,
nertden, ‘ from where? * tier eh ‘ bt longing to when * mci " ol
what piofession i Ills also compounded with / id ir amount’,
zaman , laht ‘time’, g ibi ‘like , cuts , 4 genus , turlu ‘soit’,
bigitn, ‘ shape ’ , asil, origin thus
tie kadar how much *
ne zaman, ne lakit, when?
ne gtbi, ne tins, ne turlu , ne bi\im what soil of?
nasi/ , liow'* what kind of •*
ktm, who •*
hangi , which ■*
ka^, how mam ? [ jolloued by noun in singular
Aim may take any case-ending and also the plural suffix
A imt gordunuz 7 Whom did you see?
Kimlert gordunuz 7 What people did vou see 0
LESSON SEVEN
77
Burn kirnden aldtniz ? From- whom did you take this?
§unu kime verdiniz ? To-whom did you give that?
Bu fapka kirnin? (This hat of-whom?) Whose is this hat?
Kiminle beraber geldi? Together with-whom did he come?
Aim, hangi and kag may take possessive suffixes : kim-iniz ? ‘ who-
of-you?’ (‘ your-who? ’) ; hangi-miz ? ‘which of us?’ Bu
bavullar-in kag-i sizin ? 4 How many of these trunks are yours ? 5
Ay-in kag-inda? 4 On which day of the month? * (‘ of-the-month
on-its-how-many ? ’) ; hangileri, more commonly hangisi , 4 which
of them?’ (cf. §72 (5): the question ‘which?’ presupposes
more than one).
kaga and kcig Ian (‘ to, from how much ? ’) arc both used for 4 at
what price?’ as is kag paraya (‘for how much money?’). Kilosu
kaga? (‘ its-kilo for-how-much *), 4 How much is it per kilo? *
ne may take case- and plural-suffixes, though unlike kirn it
remains in the absolute form when object of a verb (just as in
English : 4 who saw whom ? ’ but 4 what did what ? ’). Neyaptimz ?
4 What have you done? ’ Ne-niz var? 4 What’s up with you? ’
( 4 W T hat have you?’). Ne-m-e lazvn? ( 4 to-what-of-minc neces-
sary?’) or liana ne ? 4 What’s it got to do with me?’ Ne-ler
gorduk ! 4 What things we’ve seen ! ’ Neden and neye (also niye)
are both used for 4 why? ’ Sometimes ne itself may be translated
‘why?’
Ne kangxyorsunuz ? W’hal are you interfering (for) ?
Ne giizel ! or Ne kadar giizel ! How beautiful !
Ne giizel gigekler ! What beautiful llowers !
126. Postpositional Expressions
(1) We can express the sense of many English piepositions by
a roundabout phrase:
(a) behind (b) at the back of
during in the course of
by through the agency of
For almost all prepositions not already given, the Turkish
equivalents follow the pattern of ( b ). 4 Front ’, for example, is
on :
On-iim-de durdu, he stopped in front of me (at-my-front) .
On-umuz-den gegtiler , they passed before us (by-way-oi-our-
front) .
78
TURKISH
Ev-in oniinde iki agag var , in front of the house (of-the-house
at-its-front) there are two trees.
Bu rwkta-yi gbz oniinde tutmak lazirn , it is necessary to keep
this point before the eye.
It will be noted that in the third example, where a definite
house is meant, 4 house ’ and 4 front * stand in the Possessive
Relationship, while in the last example, where ‘ eye * is meta-
phorical, the relationship is Qualifying. This rule is not always
followed; definite nouns do not always take the genitive suffix
before a postpositional expression.
(2) As postpositions are mostly used after nouns, and to express
4 place where ’ more often than 4 place whither ’ or 4 place whence
each word in the following list is shown in the form in which it
usually occurs, i.e., with the 3rd-person-possessive suffix and in
the locative case, but it must be remembered that all are variable
in person and case, as shown above.
on, front; . . . oniinde , in front of, before
arka, art , back; . . . arkasuida , ardinda , behind
if, interior; . . . iginde , inside
di$, extcrioi ; . . . dtfinda, outside
list, iizer~, top; . . . ustundc, xizerindc , above, over
all (- ti ), underside; . . . allwda, underneath
or la, middle ; . . . ortasinda, in the middle of
ara , interval; . . . arasinda , between, among
van, side; . . . yanwda, beside
kar$i % opposite* jyde; . . . kaifiwida, against, face to face with
clrdf, surroundings; . . . etrajmda , around
(3) The following are mostly used with the case-endings shown :
. . . hakkinda (in his right), concerning, about
. . . tarqfindan (from his side), by, through the agency of
. . . ugrunda , ugruna (in/foi his luck), for the sake of
. . . yiizunden (from his cause), because of
. . . siiyesinde (in his shadow), thanks to
. . . yeruie (to his place), instead of
. . . boyunca (in respect of its length, § 96 (3)), along, through-
out
(4) Of the words in the list in (2), only iizer - is never used with-
out a possessive suffix. All the rest may be used like any other
LESSON SEVEN
79
nouns or (except etraf ) , as adjectives : dig ticdret, ‘ external trade \
iistii is used in qualifying relationships to mean * at the point of * :
akgam iistii , at the coming of evening
yemek iistii, just at dinner-time
sug (guilt) iistii, red-handed, in the act
(5) Two nouns followed by arastnda * between ’ are linked by
He :
kdylii ile bey arasindciki munasebeller , relations between villager
and squire.
(6) bag 1 head 1 is used postpositional^ to indicate proximity:
va'ife bagmdcu on duty
ig baginda , at work, on the job
sildh baguia , to arms !
yamrnda , by my side
yambagimda , right by my side
N.B. masa baginda means ' at/around the table ’, not ‘ at the
head of the table \
(7) Note leh and aleyh (Arabic : * for him \ ‘ against him ’) :
lehtejalcyhte olmak , to be pro /contra
lehimde ialeyhitnde soy led i, hr spoke for /against me
Note : It will be seen that these ‘ postpositional expressions ’ arc
simply nouns: we single them out under this heading as equiva-
lent to a large and common class of English words (prepositions),
but from the point of view of grammatical analysis vapurun iginde ,
4 on the inside of the steamer \ is identical with vapurun giivertesinde,
1 on the deck of the steamer * ; no grammarian would call
guvertesi - a postposition. Cf. § 97, Note (?).
127. agin
As a suffix, agin means * beyond, at an interval of * :
denizagin , overseas
giinagin, every other day
iki kapi agin (beyond two doors), at the third door down
ev agin , next door but one
Its original meaning is ‘ excessive (ly) \
128. The Verb: Imperative
The imperative is the form of the verb used in giving orders —
‘ Go ! ‘Sit down ! * The 2nd person singulaKof the imperative
8o
TURKISH
is the verb-stem, positive or negative, to which -( y)in 4 or -{y)iniz 4
is added to make the plural, the longer form being the politer of
the two. There is also a 3rd person imperative in - sin 4 . This
must not be confused with - sin , ‘ thou art ’, which is unaccented
and is attached to a tense-base, never to the naked stem; e.g.,
gel-ir-siti, ‘ thou comest \ gel-ecek-sin, * thou wilt come \ but
gelsin, ‘ let him come The suffixes of the imperative constitute
the Type III verb-endings (§66).
2nd sing, gel -\ gelme ^
2nd plural gelin >come ! X gelmeyin >don’t come !
2nd plural gehnizi gelmeyinizJ
3rd sing. gelsin , let him come gel me sin, let him not come
3rd plural gelsinler , let them come gelmcsinler , let them not come
2nd sing, ol ^
2nd plural olun >be !
2nd plural olunuzJ
3rd sing. olsun, let him be
3rd plural olsunlar , let them be
olma v
olmayin >don’t be !
olrnayiniZJ
olmasin , let him not be
olmasinlar , let them not be
The following expression.", containing the imperative of olmik ,
are common :
hanidolsun . lliank God! (let praise be!)
sag ol , be alive -arid-well ! } .. .. .
eksik olma, bc-not wanting! }coUoqu.aI forms of thanks
ge;mi$ olsun, let it be past ! (of illnesses, i.e wish you 'him
better)
oh olsun , serves -you right! (let there be oh a sound indicating
pleasure )
Note : The rule given in § 88, Note, does not apply to the
Imperative. Baylayin ! ‘Begin!’
Vocabulary 7
a^ik, open
-e ait , belonging to
Allah, God
Bui gar, Bulgar
gaki, penknife
-e garpmak , collide with, strike
dakika , dakka , minute (of time)
dil, tongue, language
dig, tooth
dizi, file, row
duvgu, feeling
elbette , of course, certainly
ey ... 1,0 ... \
geg, late ; geg kalmak , to be late
gegit (-ti), mountain-pass, pas-
sage
LESSON SEVEN
8l
genf y young
gostermek, to show
goz, eye
hasret (- ti ), regret, longing
hiz , speed; htzh, speedy,
quickly
ilelebet, for ever
isirmak , to bite
Isldvy Slav
istihkam , fortification
istikldl (-li)i independence
korumak , to protect
A'oy, village
rnanzara , view, aspect
wa.M, table
mevsirn, season
muhafaza elmek , to preserve
muddfaa etmek, to defend
o/fim, death
parmak , finger
plain, simple, simply
(-e) owner, possessor (of)
.wr (-rn), secret
sormak, to enquire-about ; -c or
- den sormak , to ask someone
jY/rX‘, cast
natural (ly)
tepe, hill, peak
tugay, brigade
uzatmak , to reach, extend
vazife, duty
yaprak , leaf
flat, level
Exercise 7
(A) Translate into English : (i) Bulgarlar Turktur, bunlari
Islav yapan dildir. (2) Bunu kirnden (kime) sordunuz? (3)
Fakat bu hasret sade ge<,mi^ zamana ait olan bir duygu degildir.
(4) O kitabi bana uzatiniz. Hayir onu degil, §u rafin ustiinde
dur-an-i istiyorurn. (5) Arkada$iniz, su dizide dur-an-lar-in
ka<;inci-si-dir ?--- Altincisi. (6) Bu mevsiinde a^ikta kal-an-i
Allah korusun. (7) Tugayimuda .yedi tane Mehmct var, siz
hangisini soruyorsunuz ? (8) Ey Turk gcn^-lig-i, biririci vazife-n
lurk istiklalini ve Turk Cumhuriyetini ilelebet muhafaza ve
miidafaa etmek-tir. (9) Beni burada bekleyin, be$ dakikaya kadar
gelirim. (10) On dakika i<^inde onunla senli benli konu§maga
ba$ladik. (n) Arkada$larimi burada beklemek istiyorurn; olur
mu? (§ 107, Note (1 )) — Olur elbette, neden olmasm? (12)
Gozunuze garpan rnanzara, iki yassi tepenin arasmdaki gc^itiyle
tabii bir istihkam manzarasidir.
(B) Translate into Turkish : (1) The dog showed his teeth as if
(* like ’) about-to-bite. (2) Don’t walk so quickly. (3) Take
these photographs and put them on top of my table. (4) They
say of (§ 94, Note (iv)) the East, ‘ It possesses the secret of death.’
(5) Open the leaves of the book with the penkqifc, not with the
82
TURKISH
finger. (6) Which horse came first? (7) Thank God our work
is going well. (8) Let him not be late, let him come early. (9)
Does the villager who has not gone out of his village understand
these problems? — He does not understand (them). (10) They
live two doors away from us.
LESSON EIGHT
129. The Verbal Noun
( 1 ) Besides the infinitive in - mek/-mak , there are three other
verbal nouns, ending in - mej-ma , -( v)ij 4 and - meklikj-maklik .
These three may take any of the possessive or casc-endings, whereas
-mek never takes possessive endings or the suffix of the genitive
case. The declension of and -meklik calls for no special
comment. Here are the cases of the other tvo verbal nouns:
| !
Qclmek
■ gelme |
bakmak
j Def. Ohj. . 1
**
1 gehneyi |
bakmagi
I Genitive . j
---
■ geltncmn j
—
1 Dative . |
j 1
gelmege
i / gelmcye !
1 gelmiye
bakmaga
; Locative . |
gelmekte
! gelmede
bakmak (a
!' Ablative . i
gelmekten
. gchnediti j
bakrnaktan
i bakma
1
bakmayi
bakmamn
1 / baktnaya
It baknnya
! bakmada
I bahnadan
For the alternative forms of the dative of see § 88, Note .
In spoken Turkish - may a is used in preference to -maga for the
dative of the verbal noun of back-vowel verbs; in front-vowel
verbs there is, of course, no difference of pronunciation between
-mege and -meve. As for the meanings : gelmek . geltne and gel meklik
all mean 4 the act of coining \ while gfhf means 4 the act or manner
of coming \
As gelmem, 1 my corning is identical with the first person
singular of the negative aorist — ‘ I do not come ’ — gelmekligim is
preferred where ambiguity might aj ise. Apart from this, the -me
form is much the most used.
Remember that the syllable before the negative - mej-m'i is
accented, and distinguish carefully the following forms :
gelme , bakma , don’t come, don’t look
gelme, bakma , the act of coming, of looking
gel-me-me , hak-rna-ma , the act of not-comi ng, of nol-looking
gel-me-m-e , bak-ma-m-a, to my coming, to my looking
gel-me-mc-m-e^ bak-ma-ma-m-a , to my not-coming, not-
looking
63
TURKISH
84
(2) In addition to the regular negatives in - memek , •menu and
-meytf, there are two other negative verbal nouns* (a) in - mezhk
e g , from anla$mak , ‘ to understand one another is formed
anla^mazlik , ‘misunderstanding*, from saldirmak , ‘to assault*,
comes saldirrnazhk , ‘ non-aggression ’ (b) in - memezhk from
soymak , ‘ to count, c stec m \ comes saymamazhk , ‘ disrespect ’
See also § 176 (5)
130 I nr Us*s 01* Tiir Vlrbvl Noun
Verbal nouns, like all other nouns, must have the case-tndmgs
appropimte to the content I he •met infinitive gtneially remains
in the absolute lorrn whtn objet t of isUmel , ‘ to want and bihnek ,
* to know ’ yuzmek i\tiyorimi 9 ‘ I want to swim ’ , yuzmek biliyorum,
‘ I know (how) to swim * t u sais nager) When a verbal noun is
the obj<(t of a verb other than these two, it takes the def obj
suffix
yuzmegi ( yuzmeyi ) s eienm, I love swimming
Adnlara gitmegi ( gilmeyi ) dufunmordum, I was thinking-of
going to the Islands
ornya ugiamayi imuttum 9 I iorgot to call there
Some examples art given below of uses of the forms sit out in
^ liq Note pai tic ulaih the following
{a Hit dative of -met or -me < \pr< sse s put pose
dun onu ^ormei^e githl wt went lo st t luin vcsteidav
sigata alma^a t ’idiyonun 1 am going to buv tigareltts
\b) 1 he locative of -me} is used togt tlicr with the veil) to be *
to nu vn 4 is was m-tfht at t-of ot as a simple present or past
tenst gitnuhtedir, 4 he is going, he goes*, soyltnukte idi hi was
saying he said’ I his constiuction luimshes the piesent tenst
most common in newspaper language c g
Mill! fulbol takim-imiz fimdi Roma da oynamaktadir, Our
national football-team is now plavmg m Ronn
S imdi Roma' da oynamalia olan mdli fulbol fakimwir , Om
team which is now plavmg in Rome (in-the-ac t of-
playing being our teanO
(t) -me with possessive suffixes expresses the object of an order,
a rceiuest or a hope
Bekh-mt-mz-i nca edenm , I request your waiting, I should
like you to wait
LESSON EIGHT 85
Oda-ya gir-me-m-i soyledi (he said my-entering . . .), He
told me to enter the room.
Buraya gel-me-niz-i istiyorum , I want you to come here.
(d) Verbal nouns in - me are also used as adjectives :
yaz-y to write ; yazma kitaplar , manuscript books
dol-, to be filled ; dolma kalem, fountain-pen
dog-, to be born, buyii-, to grow up ; dogma buyiime Istanbul-lu-
dur 9 He’s an Istanbul man, born and bred.
as-, to hang; asma koprii , suspension bridge
Examples :
Burnt soylemek-le fena mi etti ? (by-saving this, bad did he
do?). Did he do wrong in saying this?
Onu beklerne-nin fayda-si yok (of-awaiting him its-use non-
existent), There’s no use in waiting for him.
gen( olma-si-na ragmen , in spite of his-being young
okuma kitabi (reading its-book), reading-book
bcklerne salonu (waiting its-hall), waiting-room
yiiruyuf , way of walking, gait
gdruf, way of seeing, outlook
ahyoerif (taking-giving), commerce
nine-m-in haiirla-ytf-lar-t, my grandmother’s reminiscences
JVote: From a few verbal nouns in -if adjectives are iormed by
the addition of -li and -siz (§§ 86, 87) : gbster-, ‘ 1o show ’ ; gosterif,
‘ostentation’; gosterifli , ‘ostentatious’; gosterifsiz , ‘unostentatious’;
elver-, ‘to be suitable’; elverifli , ‘suitable’.
1 31. Indefinite Pronouns and Adjectives
It will be seen that several of the words given below' incorporate
the 3rd-person-possessive sulRx, c.g., bir-i, ‘ one of them ’. This
may refer back to a previously mentioned class of people, as in
focuklardan biri (§ 100 (1)) or to a 4 them ’ as vague as the ‘ they ’
of ‘ they say ’ : biri geldi , ‘ someone rame *.
Note that kim-i and fog-u may be used adjectivally; the pos-
sessive suffix then loses its force : ‘ some, most not ‘ some of
them, most of them ’.
Remember the ‘ pronominal n ’ (§ 71) ; e.g., ‘ to somebody ’
is bir-i-n-e. The 1 of bazi is not a suffix, as the accentuation shows.
The possessive suffix is doubled in bir-i-si, kim-i-si, hep {-i-) si and
fey-i-si.
86
TURKISH
biri, birisi, one, someone
Bin bu yan-a gitti , biri $u yam. One went this way (to this
side), one that way.
Birisi geldi , sizi sordu, Someone came (and) asked-for you.
biri may follow a singular noun in the genitive case :
Padi$ah‘in biri, one of (the class of) Sultan, a certain Sultan
herif-in biri , some bloke
obur, 4 the other ’ (§ 37 (3)) ; oburji, ‘ the other one ’ :
§u iki adamdan biri kardeginiz, oburu ( obur adam) kirn? Of
those two men, one is your brother; who is the other
one?
diger, basket, ‘ other * ; ba$ha-si , bir bafkasi , 4 another one, some-
one else * ; ba$kalan, 4 some others ’ :
Ben bu haber-i bajkasmdan aldim , I received this news from
someone else.
bazi, kim-i , kimLi, 4 some, someone ’ : hazt insanlar , kirni imanlar ,
baziluri, 4 some people bazi-miz , kiminuz , 4 some of us ’ ; bazunz ,
kiminiz , 4 some of you
AVwz kahvc sever, kind {ay, some like coffee, some tike tea.
^ A', ‘many, much’; (ft£'-w, 4 most of it, most of them, most’;
f og-umuz , 4 most of us ’ ; pigw zaman, 4 most of the time ’ ; (ft^w
insanlar, 4 most people \
biraz, 4 a little * ; bifkag, 4 a few, several * ; bitgok, 4 a good many,
quite a lot of * :
Biraz feker verit misirdz? Will you give (me) a little sugar?
birkac kitap , a few books (cf. § pi (2))
kitaplann bnkagi , a few of the books
birfok ev, birgok evler , a good many houses
biitun , 4 whole, all ’ ; 6u/zi/r £wn, 4 the whole day ’ ; biitun gunler,
4 all the days \
her, * every ’ ; herkes , 4 ever) body 5 ; her gun, 4 every day * ;
heryerde, 4 everywhere ’ ; hervakit, herzaman , 4 always 5 ; herhangi,
4 any \
her is also the equivalent of 4 - ever * in 4 whoever, whenever etc.
Cf. § 158 ( 7 ).
LESSON EIGHT 87
hep , 4 all, wholly, always, entirely, still * ; hep-imiz , * all of us ’ ;
hep-iniz , 6 all of you 1 ; hep si, ‘ all of them /it, everybody ’ :
Hasta nasildir ? — Hep oyle , How’s the patient? — Still the
same (thus).
gey (‘ thing ’) is used for ‘ what-do-you-call-it/him * :
§ey-i gordiik, arkadagtmzi , We saw what-do-you-call-him ;
your friend.
With this word the 3rd-person-posscssive suffix may be doubled :
Bu kapt-mn geyisi neredc - anahtar-% ? Where’s the what-do-
you-call-it of this door — its key ?
birbird , 4 one another * ; birbir-i-ni sever! er, 4 they love one
another ’ ; birbirdmizd severiz , ‘ we love one another ’ ; birbir-iniz-i
sever siniz, 1 you love one another
132. 1 self’
In addition to its adjectival use (§ 72, Note)* kendi may take the
possessive suffixes to give the sense of 4 myself, thyself’, etc. :
(Ben) kendi-m b'oyle disunity 0 rum, 1 myself think so.
Burn kirn kirdi? — (Siz) kendi-niz , Who broke this? — You
yourself.
The 3rd-person suffix -si is often omitted; 4 him-, her- or it-
self’ is kendisi or kendi, the pronominal n being inserted before
case-endings with either form ; e.g., 4 to himself * is kendine or
kendisine.
kendi(si) is often used simply foi 4 he, she, it’; compare the
stage Irish 4 himself’ for 4 he ’.
The reflexive sense may be emphasized by repetition :
Kendi kendimi yaraladim, I hurt myself.
Kendi kendini ( kendisini ) yaralndi. He hurt himself.
Kendi kendilerini yaraladilar, They hurt themselves.
kendi-ligd-nden, 4 from his sell-ness ’ means 4 spontaneously, of
his /its own accord ’.
133. Telling the Time
Saat kag? (‘ hour how-many? ’), What’s the time?
Saat bir (hour one), One o’clock, or simply bir , One.
(Saat) tig buguk , Half-past three.
88
TURKISH
(Saat) iki-yi on gegiyor (ten is passing hour two), Ten past
two.
(Saat) yedi-yi geyrek gegiyor , Quarter past seven.
(Saat) bege yirmi var (to hour five there is twenty), Twenty
to five.
(Saat) on bir-e geyrek var } Quarter to eleven.
Saat kagta ? At what time ?
(Saat) ikide , At two o’clock.
(Saat) iig bugukta , At half-past three.
4 At — minutes past/ to the hour 5 is expressed by an adverbial
form of the verbs gegmek , 4 to pass and kalmak, 4 to remain \ the
number of the hour being in the def. obj. or dative case respectively :
(Saat) beg-i yirmi gege (twenty passing hour five), At twenty
past five.
(Saat) beg-e yirmi kala (twenty remaining to five), At twenty
to five.
Note : sulannda (‘ in its waters ’), 4 round about ' ; saat dokuz
sulanndn , 4 roundabout 9 o'clock ’ ; sekiz, \ekiz bnguk sulannda geldi ,
4 he came, round about eight or half past \
Vocabulary 8
-e ahgik , accustomed to
altm* gold
Anadolu , Anatolia
ayti, separate
bets * harm ‘
belli* evident, clear
cep* pocket
- e gikigmak , to scold, tell off
girkin, ugly
dedikodu , gossip
defa , kere , time, occasion
dikkat (-ti), attention, care
dogmak , to be born, rise (sun,
etc.)
doktory hekirn , doctor
dbmneky to turn, return
edebiyat (- ti ), literature
-e engel aimak* to be the obstacle
to, prevent
Erzurum , Erzurum (city in
eastern Anatolia)
ha stabakici, nurse
Hag* medicine, drug
-e laytky worthy of, to
mendd, handkerchief
Mustafa Kemal (-//), Name of the
founder of the Republic, later
sur named Ataturk (~kii)
ndzn* minister
niyet (- li ), intention
nutuk (-tku), speech; nutuk
soylemeky to make a speech
rica etmeky to request
sebepy cause, reason
LESSON EIGHT
siirmek, to last, take (time)
tefkil etmek , to constitute, form
Vahdettin , name of the last
Sultan
-e varrnak , to reach, arrive at
valan , motherland
89
-den vazgqmek , to give up,
abandon the idea of
vesile, pretext, opportunity
yer, place
y etmek, to suffice
Exercise 8
(A) Translate into English : (1) Erzurum’a ii£ defa, u$-unde
de ayri ayri (§ 99 (2) (a)) yollardan gittim. (2) §imdi giren
kizlardan c;ogu pek firkin. (3) Bu sabah iki mendil aldim.
Biri ceb-irn-de, fakat oburii ne oldu biliniyorum. (4) Bu bahs-in
uzerine donrnekte beis gor-mc-dirn. (5) Doktor, hastalan
dola§ti; bir hasta-nin ilac-i-m vakt-i-nde verme-yi unut-an
hastabakiciya ^iki^ti. (6) Dedikodu dinlcmcgc ali§ik degilim.
(7) Istanbul’a gitmek niyetinde-yim. Siz de gitmek istiyor
musunuz? (8) Ay dogu§-u-ndan insan yuruyii$-ii-nden belli
olur. (9) Hem Vahdettin’in nazirlari, hem Mustafa Kemal’in
kendisi Anadolu'ya gc^mek it; in vesile aramakta-dirlar.
(10) Bu vatan i^in nclcr yapmadik!
Kimimiz olduk, kiniimiz nutuk soy led ik.
(B) Translate into Turkish: (1) It's ten to eight: at ten to
eight; it's a quarter past one; at a quarter past one; they come
about nine or half past. (2) This work is worthy to hold (a) place
in our literature. (3) I’ve given up the idea of going to Erzurum
to-day. (4; 1 request that you listen to me with attention. (5)
At this rate (‘ with this manner-of- walking ') we shall have
reached their house before seven o’clock. (6) This money is not
sufficient to buy a gold watch. (7) T iiis job won’t take five
minutes. (8j Does this constitute (a) reason for your taking my
car? (9) Who prevented your doing this job? (10) Men don’t
Jive to eat, they eat to live.
LESSON NINE
134. The imif Form of the Verb 4 to be *
imif , to which may be added the Type I verb-endings with the
exception of dir , means 4 is said to.be * or 4 was said to be *; its
use shows that the speaker has no ‘first-hand knowledge of what
he is describing: Kizi gayet giizel imif , 4 His daughter is /was very
beautiful, I’m told
Just as with idim (§ 82), the initial i may be dropped and the
-mi§ used as a suffix, subject to the fourfold vowel-harmony:
Gayet giizel bir kizi varmi V v, 4 He has /had a very beautiful daughter,
they say \ Like idim too, imi$ is unaccented.
imif maybe used after any tense-base except the Jz-past, to indicate
lack of first-hand knowledge :
Profcsor yarin ge.lecekrni $ , 'The Professor's supposed to be
coming to-morrow.
Tren-le gidiyormu$lar ( gidiyotlarmif ), They’re going by train,
I’m told.
It may also follow the past participle (§ 122); if I hear that
there is a rumour that I have gone to China, I may say Ben (Jitie
gitmi$ irnifim ! 4 I’m supposed to have gone to China ! * (‘ I-am-
according-to-hearsay having-gone . . .’). Note that in this con-
struction the imif is usually separate not suffixed, to avoid the
ugly gitmifrnifim.
-tnif may be added to the present, aorist and future bases before
gibi, 4 like ’, to convey a doubt of the reality of the action : Aghyor-
mu$ gibi gozlerini siliyordu, ‘ He was wiping his eyes as though he
were crying
135. The -mif Tense of Other Verbs
(1) -mif 4 has a different force when attached to the stems of
verbs other than 4 to be \ Besides forming the past participle
(§ 122), it is the sign of a tense which is sometimes called the
narrative past, but which in this book will be called the mz^-past.
It differs from the di-past in that in the 3rd person usually (but
see (2) below), sometimes also in the 1st and 2nd persons, it
90
LESSON NINE
91
implies a lack of positive knowledge* It differs from the imi$
form of * to be * : (a) in being exclusively a past and never a
present tense ; ( b ) in that imi§ invariably implies a lack of positive
knowledge.
gelmi§im , (I gather that) I have come, came
geltnifsin , (I gather that) thou hast come, came
gelmif , I gather that he has come, came
gelmi§tir , he has come, came
gelmi$iz , (I gather that) we have come, came
gelmifsiniz , (I gather that) you have come, came
gelmifler, I gather that they have come, came
gelmiflerdir , they have come, came
The s of the 2nd person is often dropped in pronunciation:
gelmifin , gelmi$miz.
(2) The addition of -dir to the 3rd person in the written lan-
guage removes the idea of uncertainty, gdmiftir , gelmiflerdir are
the usual forms of the 3rd person past tense in newspaper Turkish :
General A. bugitn fchrimize gelmi§tir } 4 General A. came to our city
to-day ’. ,
Beginners tend to think that - m/j/jr is used in newspapers out
of modesty, in recognition that what a newspaper tells its readers
is but hearsay. The wrongness of this belief is clear from the
following considerations: (a) The* past tense of 4 to be * in news-
paper use is a self-confident w/i, not a diffident itnif. ( b ) In head-
lines, where it is important to save space, the shorter geldi (for
instance) is used, while the full (ext will have gclmiftir, synonymous
but longer by four letters (similarly for the present tense the head-
line will have geliyor while the text has gelmcktedir- -§ 130 ( b )).
(c) It is only in the past tense that the tnif appears ; if the General’s
visit is to-morrow, the verb will be gelecek(tir), not gelecekmif.
(3) To summarise:
geldi (written and spoken), he came, has come
gelmi$ (written and spoken), I gather that he’s come
gelmiftir (written), he came, has come
geltniftir (spoken), he must have come
The uncertainty implied in this last comes not from the mif but
from the dir (§ 67 (3)).
(4) dir is sometimes added to the 1st and and persons of the
m^-past, to make a confident assertion of a fact not positively
known (like a B.B.C. compere’s * Of course You a n know our
TURKISH
9 *
guest-star ’) : gdrmiifsuniizdur , * you have certainly seen, I expect
you’ve seen \
Note : In some districts of Eastern Anatolia, -mi$ and not - di is
the usual base of the simple past tense.
136. The Pluperfect Tense
(1) We have seen how the * I was ’ endings are attached to the
present, future and aorist bases, to make the equivalents of the
English ‘ I was going, was about to go, used to go They may
also be added to the -mi§ participle- to give the equivalent of our
‘ I had gone * : gitmiftim, gitmiftin , gitmifti , gitmiftik , gitmiftiniz ,
gitmif tiler or gitmiflerdi. This tense has none of the uncertainty of
the mijr-past.
(2) There is a far less common pluperfect made from the </i-past,
in two possible ways :
(a) gilliydim (for gitti idim ), I had gone
gittiydin (for gitti id in) , thou hadst gone
gittiydi (for gitti idi ), he bad gone
gittiydik (for gitti idik) , we had gone
gittiydiniz (for gitti idiniz), you had gone
gittiydiler (tor gitti idiler ), they had gone
(b) gittimdi (for gittim idi), I had gone
gittindi (for gittin idi), thou hadst gone
gittiydi (for gitti idi ), he had gone
gittikti (for gitlik idi), we had gone
gittinizdi (for gittiniz idi), you had gone
gittilerdi (for gittiler idi), they had .gone
The pluperfect is used much more frequently than in English
to show that one action in the past preceded another action in the
past: see, e.g., Exercise 14, sentence 11.
137. The Passive and tiie Reflexive Verb
A verb is said to be passive when the subject does not act but
is acted upon. Active : ‘ The missionary ate.’ Passive : ‘ The
missionary was eaten.’
A reflexive verb is one whose action does not afTect any external
object but ‘ reflects ’ back on to the subject: ‘ I washed myself.’
( 1 ) Passive verbs are formed in Turkish as follows :
(a) to stems ending in any consonant but / the syllable -i7 4 is
added ;
LESSON NINE
93
(b) to stems ending in / the syllable -in* is added ;
(c) to stems ending in a vowel, -n is added.
fekmek , to pull, withdraw ; gekilmek , to be pulled, withdrawn
tutmak , to hold ; tutulmak , to be held
yazmak, to write; yazilmak, to be written
gbrmek , to see ; goruhnek , to be seen
bulmak, to find ; bulunmak , to be found
aimak, to take, buy ; ahnmak, to be taken, bought
yikamak , to wash ; yikanmak , to be washed
soylemek , to say ; sbylenmek , to be said
okumak , to read ; okunmak , to be read
(2) Reflexive verbs are formed as follows :
(a) to stems ending in a consonant the syllable -in* is added;
(£) to stems ending in a vowel, - n is added.
bulunmak , to find onest If
gekinmek , to withdraw oneself, refrain
yikanmak , to wash oneself
soyletimek, to talk to oneself, mumble
(3) Comparison of the two preceding lists will show that, in
verbs whose stems end in a vowel or /, the reflexive and passive
forms are identical. Where confusion might arise, the passive is
distinguished by a doubly passive suffix: \byle-ti-il-nuk , ‘to be
said while the reflexive sense may be unambiguously conveyed
by the reflexive pronoun kendi kendini (§ 132).
(4) The passive of compound verbs formed with etrnek is ex-
pressed either with the passive ed-il-mek or with a passive-looking
form of olmak : olumnak. tatbik etrnek, 4 to apply ’ ; tatbik ediliyor
or tatbik olunuyor , ‘ it is being applied ’.
The two common exceptions to this rule are kaybetmek , * to lose
passive kaybolmak , 4 to be lost and lira$ etrnek , 4 to shave (some-
one) ’, tiras olmak, 4 to be shaved, have a shave \
(5) When a verb is made passive, the former object of the verb
becomes its subject: 4 I caught the ball 4 the ball was caught \
In Turkish, intransitive verbs (§ 117) may be made passive; as
there was no object to the active form, there can be no subject to
the passive form, so such verbs are said to be used impersonally.
Active : istasyona bu yoldan giderler, 4 they go by this way to the
station ’ ; Passive : istasyona bu yoldan gid-il-ir, 4 one may go by
this way . . going-is-done ’). This construction is the best
TURKISH
94
means of rendering the English indefinite 4 one * : Kag yaginda
asker ol-wi-ur ? 4 At what age does one become a soldier ?* ( 4 . . . is-
becoming-done ? *).
Reflexive verbs, too, may be used in the impersonal passive:
Burada yika-n-il-maz (* Here washing-oneself is not done *), 4 One
may not wash here \ Of. § 150, Note.
(6) baglamak , 4 to begin *, is made passive when used with a
passive verb : rapor-u basrnaga bagladilar , 4 they have begun to
print the report ’ ; rapor bas-il-maga bafla-n-di , 4 the report has-
been-begun to-bc-printcd
(7) bulunmak, 4 to find oneself*, is commonly used for 4 to be *:
several examples will be found in subsequent exercises.
edinmek , reflexive of etmek , means 4 to get. acquire
gbrurirnek , reflexive of gurmek, means 4 to appear, seem \
geginmek (gegmek, 4 to pass ’) means 4 to live, get on (with some-
one) \
For the passive of anlamak , 4 to understand \ anlagilmak is used.
(8) To indicate the agent of a passive verb, we may use the
postposition tarafmdcw (§ 126 (3)) : fine an, hizmetgi tarafindan ku-il-dt ,
4 the cup was-broken by the servant This use is not very
frequent, because it is simpler to say hizmetgi fine am hirdi , 4 the
servant broke the cup More common is the adverbial suflix -ce
(§96 (3)), as in Bu i$-e huhumet-ge karar ver-il-rm$tir ( 4 tg this work
governmen tally decision has-been-given *), 4 This work has been
decided on by the Government \
138. As in English, names of materials may be used as ad jectives
or nouns:
gumii$-ten yap-rf-mi j bir saal , a watch made from-silver ; bir
gumtif saat , a silver watch
mukavva-dan yapilmif bir k utu. a box made from cardboard;
bir mukavva kutu, a cardboard box
4 Railway ’ is either demiryolu, 4 iron its-road \ or demiryol , 4 iron
road *, the former being more common.
139. Money, Weights and Measures
(1) One hundred kuru$, 4 piastre make a lira , 4 pound * (ap-
proximately 2 s. 6 d.). The kurtif is subdivided into forty para
(which also means 4 money ’), but as the para is now (1953) worth
three-hundredths of a farthing, this unit is seldom met with,
except on excise and charity stamps.
LESSON NINE
95
The Italian lira is distinguished from the Turkish by being
called liret . The English pound is Ingiliz lira-si or isterlin.
(2) The Metric system has been official in Turkey since 1932.
Only those parts of it which are in common use are given below :
just as in French 100 metres is theoretically un hectometre but in
practice cent metres, so in Turkish yiiz metre is far commoner than
bir hektomelre .
saniimelre or saniirn, centimetre — approx. } inch
metre , metre — approx. 39-37 inches
kilometre , kilometre — approx. ■§■ mile
gram, gramme — approx. -£ s oz.
kilo , kilogram, kilogramme — approx. 2-2 lb.
litre or kilo, litre — approx, lj pints
(3) There are two equivalents for 4 square 5 as in 4 square kilo-
metre \ The older method is to use the Arabic noun murabbd
(- at — § 48) : bir kilometre mwabbai (‘ one kilometre its-square ’).
More frequent nowadays is bir kilometre kare. This apparent
violation of the rule that adjectives precede their nouns is explained
by the fact that the phrase has been lifted whole from the French
kilometre cam.
donum, formerly an area 40 paces by 40 paces, is now officially
1000 square metres.
(4) Two officially obsolete measures which one sometimes
comes across are the argin, a linear measure of about 28 inches,
and the okka , a weight equal to a little over 2J lb.
Note : Remember to accentuate in pronunciation the first
syllable of metre : bir metresi is 4 a metre-of-it \ whereas bir metresi
is 4 a mistress-of-his * (the French mattress).
140. 4 A glass of water *
In expressions consisting of a number, a measure and the name
of a commodity, such as ‘ a glass of water, a kilo of cheese, two
packets of cigarettes, ten metres of curtaining-rnalerial the 4 of*
is not translated : bir bardak su, bir kilo peynir , iki paket sigara , on
metre perdelik kuma§. Compare the German ein Glas Bier , * a glass
(of) beer \ Note also the similar use of words meaning 4 sort ’ :
biryeni tip ugak, 4 a new type (of) aircraft ’ ; her gegit insan, 4 every
kind (of) man *.
The same construction is used with expressions formed with
dolu 4 full which w'ith the 3rd -person-possessive suffix means
TURKISH
96
‘ -ful * : bir kagik dolu-su $eker (‘ a spoon its-full sugar ’), ‘ a spoonful
of sugar \ * A handful * is avug dolusu , not el . . avug being ‘ the
hollow of the hand
141. The Locative Case
-1 de may usually be rendered ‘ at ‘ in or ‘ on \ It is also
used with words denoting qualities, where we would use ‘of’:
on bir metre uzun-lug-unda bir ip, a rope 1 1 metres long (in
the length of . . .)
0 kiltk-ta bir odam , a man of that aspect
bal reng-itide kuma$, cloth of the colour of honey
giivcrcin yumurta-si buyiiklugiinde bit ta$, a stone of the size of
a pigeon's egg.
Note : Kag ya$indasimz ? s How old are you ? * (‘ in the age of
how-many are you? ’) — Oluz ya$inda-yim, ‘ I’m thirty \
Vocabulary 9
alay , regiment
albay , Colonel
ama , but
arahk, interval
aynlmak , to be set apart, to
depart
bajarmak, to accomplish
boy, stature, length
gap (-pi), diameter, calibre
daima, always 0
-e ddir , about, relating to
degnek , stick, rod
diken, thorn
emek, toil; emekli , pensioned,
retired
emir (- mri ), order, command
General (-11), General
giil, rose
hayli , pretty much, quite con-
siderably
hemen, immediately
kahn, thick
kolay, easy
komnian, commander
konak , mansion, government
house
Kote, Korea
kum , sand
lakirdi , talk
miiddet (-h), period
parga, piece
penevre , window
savaf, war, lighting, combat
susmak , to be silent
-c $a$mak, to be surprised at
tar of side
la$. stone
tcrcih etmek, to prefer
terfi etmek, to promote, to be
promoted
ter k if etmek, to arrest
toren, ceremony
Tuggeneral (-li). Brigadier
Ulus, 4 The Nation ’ (a news-
paper)
uzun , long
LESSON NINE
97
iizmek , to distress, grieve yanyana , side by side
vildyet (- ti ), province * writing, article
yabanci , stranger, foreigner yiikselmek , to rise, ascend
Exercise 9
(A) Translate into English : (i) Jki giin evvel Ulus’ta gikan
yaziyi okumu§ olacaksmiz. Okumu§ vc §a§mi§simzdir. (2)
Sus! Qocugun yanmda oyle lakirdi soylenir mi? (3) Yeni
yapilan vilayet konagi, yakinda biiyiik bir torenle a^ilacak. (4)
On santim boyunda vc iki 119 santim kahnliginda ku<;uk bir
degnek parkas 1. (5) Bir metre aralikla yanyana duran iki ta§.
(6) Bu ta§lar iizerine bir bu9uk metre uzunlugunda bir iki santi-
metre ^apmda bit degnek konulur. (7) Yabancinm hemen
tevkif edilmesinc dair emir almi?lardi. (8) Siz portakali sever-
siniz ama her halde boylesini yememi§sinizdir. (9) Uzun miiddet
Kore Sava$ Birligimizin komutanhgini yapmi$ olan General
Tahsin Yazici onumuzdeki agustos ayinda emekli-yc ayrilacaktir.
Digcr taraftari, yine Kore Birligimizin Alay komutanhgini yapmi$
olan A 1 bay Celal Dora da bu sene Tuggencralligc terfi edcccktir.
(B) Translate into Turkish : (1) I suppose I have always pre-
ferred the cinema to the theatre. (2) A day’s train journey is
covered (‘ is taken ’) in an hour and a half by aeroplane. (3)
While I was looking out of the window last night, snow fell.
(4) While 1 was sleeping last night, snow fell. (5) 1 hear you
came to see me yesterday ; I was very much distressed at (‘ to ’)
my not being at home. (6) They say the thornless rose does not
occur. (7) You will be quite considerably tired. Because this is
not a job which is easily accomplished. (8) The sand-hills here
rose in some places to as much as sixty-nine metres. (9) Four
times nine makes thirty-six. (10) Don’t distress yourself.
* Vildyet , the largest administrative division, governed by a V li.
Eac h of its subdivisions is a kaza , governed by a Kaymakam. The new
terms arc i/, ilbay, fye and ityebay respectively.
D
LESSON TEN
142. The dik Past Participle
Besides the past participle in - mif , there is another, formed by
adding - dik* to the verb-stem, but in the absolute case this is little
used except in some frozen forms.*
bir bildik , bir tamdik s an acquaintance
ifit-il-me-dik, unheard-of'
gor-iil-me-dik (not-seen), extraordinary
oUma-dxky unprecedented
143. The Relative Participles
(1) The participles described in §§ 120-3 arc used when in
English the relative pronoun — ‘ who, which, that -is the subject
of the relative sentence : 4 the man who came, the light that
failed, the train which will leave at noon \ In any other type of
relative sentence — 4 the man whom wc saw, the light which you
switched on, the train lie came on * (i.e., on which he came) —
Turkish uses a construction which, though neat •and logical,
usually strikes English -speakers as one of the most alien features
of the language. It will be dealt with at some length, as unless
this construction is fully grasped it is scarcely possible to read a
paragraph in Turkish.
(2) To the -dik and -ecek participles, a possessive suffix is added,
to make a word meaning 4 pertaining to my/thy /his, etc., do-
ing. . . .* - dik is used for present as well as past time, - ecek for
future time. Thus from gelmek :
geldigim, pertaining to my coming
geldigin , pertaining to thy coming
geldigi , pertaining to his coming
geldigimiz , pertaining to our coming
geldiginiz, pertaining to your coming
geldikleri , pertaining to their coming
* By 4 frozen forms * is meant, e.g., such words as the English ‘child-
hood, motherhood *, the ‘ -hood ’ of which is no longer a live suffix; we
cannot say 4 soldicrhood * or 4 scholarhood \
98
LESSON TEN 99
gelecegim , gelecegin , gelecegi, gelecegimiz , geleceginiz , gelecekleri t
‘ pertaining to my, etc., future coming \
Examples :
geldigim tren (train pertaining-to-my-coming) , the train on
which I came
alacagtniz kitap (book pertaining-to-your-future-buying),
the book which you are going to buy
oturdugunuz ev pahali mi? Is the house in-which-you-are-
living expensive?
Herkes oldugu yerde kalsin , Let everyone remain where he is
(in the place pertaining-to-his-being).
Londra'ya gittigimiz zarnan kendisi hasta idi , When we went
(the time pertaining-to-our-going) to London, he was ill.
This last example shows the usual way of rendering * when
clauses in Turkish.
The clumsy locution with ‘ pertaining to ’ has been chosen as
being the only equivalent that fits all the examples. We may
memorize the translation ‘ which I gave ’ for verdigim t but this
will not work with intransitive verbs : ‘ the train which he came
(on), the place which I went (to) \ The beginner will therefore
be well advised to fix it in his memory that - digim preceding a
noun means ‘ pertaining to my . . . ing
(3) Like any other word including a possessive suffix, the
relative participle may have a possessor expressed, in the genitive
case if definite : mektub-u, ‘ his letter * ; karde$im-in mektub-u , * my
brother’s letter \ So :
gonderdigi mektup , the letter which he sent
karde§imin gonderdigi mektup , the letter which my brother
sent (pertaining to his — my bi other’s — sending)
benim geldigim gun , the day I came
(4) If the subject is indefinite it remains in the absolute case :
Kedi bulun-ma-dig-i yerde fare ba$ kaldinr, ‘ In the place where there is no
cat (pertaining to its — cat — not being), the mouse raises (its) head \
(5) halde is used after relative participles to mean either
‘ although ’ or ‘ in a state of ’ :
burn bildigim halde, although I knew/know this (in-the-state
pertaining-to-my-knowing)
elinde bir bigak oldugu halde , having a knife in his hand (in-
the-state pertaining-to-its — a knife — being in his hand)
100
TURKISH
(6) yerde after a future relative participle means * instead of*:
Evde bekliyecegimiz yerde tiyatroya dogru yiirumege bafladtk, 4 Instead of
waiting at home we began to walk towards the theatre \
Note : gelecegim , 4 pertaining to my future coming may be
distinguished from gelecegim , 4 I shall come *, by its position in the
sentence; cf. § 124. They are also accented differently; the
possessive -im of the former carries the accent, while in the latter
the - im is 4 I am *, and the accent precedes it.
144. Like other adjectives, relative participles may be used as
nouns. This use is a giammat ical device for making noun-clauses ;
for attaching to a verbal notion the case-suffixes and postpositions
used after nouns. Its commonest function is to express indirecl
speech, by putting a verb into the dcf. obj. case as object of
another verb, e.g., 4 to say, to hear, to know * :
geldiniz , you came; g(ldigiuiz-i . sovledi , He said that you
came (he stated the-fact-of-your-coining).
Examples :
(a) Genitive case: gehcek-lcri-nw mujdc-si ( 4 of-t heir-being-
about-to-come its-good-news *), 4 the good news that they will be
coming \
( b ) Dative case: i$il-tig-im-e gote (‘ according to-my-hcaring ’),
4 according to what 1 heaid \
The dative of the future relative partic iple means ‘ instead of* :
oraya gidecegime buiaya geldim, 1 instead of going there I came here \
Cf. § 143 (6).
( c ) Locative case : *
geldigimiz-de , at-0111 -coining, when we came
;fihyacag-imz-da \u{>he-m ynk h'n-your-future-woiking my.
doubt non-existent), I have no doubt that you will woik.
(d) Ablative case :
Siz-i ara-dig-mdan haberiniz yok mu? Don’t vim know lie's
looking-for you? (haven’t you news of-liis seeking )ou:
cf. § 100 (1)).
zengin ol-ma-dig-wdan, because lie's not rich (from-his-not-
being . . .)
Gddtginden beri hasUmedi yativo^ Since he came he's been
lying in hospital.
(e) with if in 4 for, because of'* Dogtu-yu soyledigmi if in kizdi,
‘ He was angry because 1 told the truth \
LESSON TEN
101
(/) with gibi, 4 like ’ ; bildiginiz gibi , * as you know * : Haber-i
al-dig-i gibi yola ftkti, 4 JusjL as he received the news he set out (to
the road) \
(g) with kadar , 4 as much as ’ : istediginiz kadar al f 4 take as much
as you want \
145. Negative Sentences
kimse , 4 someone, person in negative sentences means 1 no-
body * :
kimse gelmiyor , nobody is coming (exactly like the French
per sonne ne vient)
Kims e-si yok> he has nobody
bir $ey f 4 a thing, anything \ is similarly used to mean 4 nothing ' :
bir yy degil , 4 it is nothing ’ (used in reply to teykkiir edenm , 4 thank
you’).
bir tiirlu , 4 a sort in negative sentences means 4 in no way, no
ho\$ bir tiirlu atdamadi , 4 he didn’t understand at all
hif : {a) strengthens negatives. It is written as one word with
a following bir :
hif bir yy isle menu 1 want nothing at all
hubiryer-e gifmezlcr, they go nowhere
hif bir vakil ( zaman } gelmezsiniz , you never come
(b) 4 nothing ' :
Ne gordiinuz ' —Hi$, What did you see? - Nothing.
bir }u{. if in kizdi, lie got angry lor (a) nothing
(c) 4 ever, never ’ in questions : Hif Konya" y a gittiniz mi ?, 4 Have
you ever, never been to Konya ? ’
ne . . . ne . . ., 4 neither . . . nor . . . * : Ne onu gordtim ne ba$kasim,
4 I saw neither him nor anybody else \
yok colloquially means not only 4 there isn’t * but also 4 certainly
not ! ’ It is also used for 4 not at home ’ : siz yok-ken kardeyniz
geldi , 4 while you were out your brother came \
Note : Turks do not shake their heads to express negation ; the
conversational Turkish for 4 no ’ is any or all of the three following :
(a) a slight raising of the head ; (b) closing the eyes ; ( c ) the click-
ing of the tongue with which we indicate mild, vexation and which
we write 4 tut ! ’
102
TURKISH
146. Translation of 1 can *
-( y)ebilj-(y)abil added to verb-stems expresses potentiality:
gelmek , to come ; gtl-ebil-mek , to be able to come
geldiniz, you came ; gelebildiniz , you were able to come
soyle-n-ir, it is said ; sbylen-ebil-ir , it can be said
oku-yacak misimz ? are you going to read?; oku-yabil-ecek
misiniz ? are you going to be able to read ?
gorenler , those who see ; gor*ebil-en-ler , those who can see
oku-dug-um yazi, the writing Vhich I read; oku-yabil-dig-im
yazi , the writing which I was/am able to read
Note (i) : It is possible, though rare, for negative stems to be
followed by this suffix : yaz-mi-yabil-ir-im , * I am able not to write *,
i.e., I*m not obliged to write if I don’t want to.
Note (ii) : The resemblance to our word 4 able ’ is a useful aid
to the memory, but is sheer coincidence; the -bil is the stem of
the verb meaning ‘ to know * ; hence the lack of vowel-harmony.
147. Translation of * cannot ’
The -ebil suffix is not used for 1 cannot * ; instead, an accented
-e/ -a is inserted before the negative -mel-ma :
ver-me-mek, not to give ; ver-e-me-mck , to be unable to give
kullan-il-mi-yacak, it will not be used ; kullan-il-a-mi-yacak , it
will not be able to be used
almaZy he does not take ; al-a-maz, he cannot take
olmaz, it does not occur ; ol-a-maz> it cannot occur, be
tut-ul-ma-di , it was not held ; tut-ul-a-ma-du it could not be held
bafla-mi-yor mu? isn’t he beginning?; bafh-ya-mi-yor mu?
Can’t he begin?
yap-ma-dig-irn bir fey , a thing I did not do ; yap-a-ma-dig-im
bir fey , a thing I could not do
148. Adverbs of Place
(1) iferi, inside
difan , outside
yukan , up, upstairs
ofaj* t, down, downstairs
ileri y forward
geri, back, backward, behind
dte> on the farther side, yonder
beri, on or to the side nearer the speaker, hither
LESSON TEN 103
(2) When indicating motion towards a direction, these may be
used just like their English equivalents :
kaput igeri gitti , the*porter went inside
agagt geldi, he came downstairs
geri donduky we turned back
beri gelinUj come over here
They may also take the dative suffix (whereas the words listed in
§ 97 must take it when indicating motion towards) with no differ-
ence of meaning: igeriye gitti , agagtya geldi , geriye donduky beriye
geliniz. For * to the farther side the usual form is oteye not otc,
(3) When the locative or ablative suffixes are added, the final
vowel of iferiy digari, yukart and ileri is often dropped :
igerde or igeride oturuyorduk , we were sitting inside
digardan or difandan geldi , he came from outside
yukarda or yukanda kimseyok, there’s nobody upstairs
ilerde or ileride , in the future, in front
(4) These words may be used adjectivally, although if and dig
arc used in preference to igeri and dtgart for ‘ internal * and
4 external ’ :
yukan kat f the upper storey
su-yun beri/otc yakasi, the nearer /farther bank of the stream
N.B. Saat beg dakika ileridir/geridir, ‘ The clock is five minutes
fast/slow \
(5) They are also used as nouns :
eu-in igeri-si karanlik , the inside of the house is dark
cephe-niti biraz grri-sinde durduk, we stopped a little way behind
the front (of-the-front a-little at-its-rear)
(6) The suffix - ki (§ 98) may be added directly to ote and beri
and to the locative case of the others :
oteki bina , that building which is over there, yonder building
yukardakiler, those who are upstairs
(7) Note the following expressions:
agagi yukart (down up), more or less, approximately
otede beride dolagmak , to stroll around (there here)
oteberi altnaga giktim , I went out to buy some odds and ends
(that-this)
oteden beri (§ 101), from of old
TURKISH
IO4
149. uzere, iizre , now replaced in its original sense of ‘ on * by
uzerinde , is used :
(1) With the relative participle to mefan ‘as’: vukarda yazildigi
iizre , ‘ as is written above \
(2) With - Trick to mean : (a) ‘ so as to, in order to ' — $ocuklar
okul-a gitmek uzere hazvrlaniyorlar , 1 the children are-getting-ready to
go to school ( b ) ‘ on condition that, with the proviso that* —
vann geri vermek iizre bu kitabi alabilirsmiz , 4 you can take this book
on condition that you give it back (‘ to give back *) to-morrow ’ ;
(r) * on the point of’ — arkadapmz gkmek iizetedir, ‘ your friend is on
the point of going
Note : olrnak Uzere* ‘ as being ’ ; cf. olarak t § 162.
Vocabulary 10
diem, world, state of life
ancak, only
av % hunt, quarry
Beyoglu {-unu), modern resi-
dential and shopping quarter
of Istanbul (‘ Pcra * )
bir daha , oriee more
- e d aimak, to plunge, be lost in
dolmak , to be full
doviz, foreign exchange
eglenmeh , to amuse oneself
el , hand * *
elp, envoy; Buyuk Elp, Am-
bassador
emmyet , confidence, security
fena , bad
giyrnek , to wear, put on (clothes)
gulling ridiculous
haber , news-item ; haberler , news ;
haber vennek , to make known
harbiye , warfare
hayat (-ti : § 64) , life
hukumet , hukumet {-ti), govern-
ment
kdnun , law
kovtdamak , to chase
kralife, kiralife , queen
kurnaf, cloth, (woven) stuff
rnahkeme , law-court
mdlumdt (-//), information
mandira , cow-shed
mevzu {-zuu), subject, topic
miisieuid , excepted
resmi, official, formal
rivdyet {-ti), rumour
jm/m, area, field
salon, hall, auditorium
sepnek , to choose, elect
siralamak , to put in a row, line up
soz, word, statement : sbzcu ,
spokesman
tahla* wood, wooden
taklit etmek, to imitate
tut , taste, flavour: /«//z, sweet,
delightful
tetkik {-ki), scrutiny, study
tezat , contrast, incongruity
/wm/, tourist
ummak , hope, expect
varmak , to split, break through
LESSON TEN
105
Exercise 10
(A) Translate into English : (1) I§in fenasi $u idi: bu hayat bir
daha donmemek lizore kaybolmu§tu. (2) Bu kanunsuzluklarm
hesab-i sorulacagi bir giiniin geleceginden korkmuyorlar mi?
(3) §ehirde kullamlan ve kdyluniin ‘ hiikumet ayi ’ dedigi resmi
on iki ayi koyde pek az ki§i bilir. (4) Londra’da Harbiye Bakan-
hgi sozciisu bu gibi haberlcrin bir rivayetten ileri gitmcdigini
sdylemi§tir. . . . Amcrikan Biiyiik Elgisi bu haberden malumati
olmadigmi soylemi§tir. (5) Turkiye Giizellik Kraligesi dun gecc
Atlas sinemasinda se^ildi. Sinema salonu erkcnden (§ 100 (3))
dolmu§tu. Bir^ok kimselcr de di?arda sc<;mclere girccek olan
guzellcri gormek lizero sirala-n-mi$lardi. (6) Tctkik movzuumuz
(§ 75 (3)) 0 ^ an koyler (clli be$ kilometre kadar uzak olan bir
tane-si miistcsna olmak lizere) Ankara §ehrinin etrafinda 20-22
kilometrelik bir saha igindedirlcr. (7) Hayatinmzin tezatlarindan
biri dc Beyoglu’nda ya§adiginnz, eglendigimiz haldc onu sevme-
mekligimiz, ondan bahsetmegi gulling bulmamizdir. (8) Bir
takim kimselcr cllcrinde Turk paras 1 oldugu halde Istanbul
sokaklarinda ddviz avcihgi yapmakta vc turist kovalamakta-
dirlar.
(B) Translate into Turkish : (1) I had a lot of work last night,
I was able to go to bed only at one o’clock. (2) Fly, birds ! to
the place where I was born. (3) The unexpected stone splits (the)
head. (4) The inimitable tiling in them was not what they wore
but their manner-of-dressing-themselves. (5) I shall let you also
know' the day 1 am going to see him. (6) It is doubtful whether
I shall go to-day (‘ my-futu re-going is doubtful ’). (7) Those who
do not think-about to-morrow from to-day, cannot look with con-
fidence at the future. (8) I shall never forget this kindness
(‘ goodness ’) which you have done to me. (9) How (‘ from
where ’) do I know what sort of stuff you want? (10) He stopped
on the wooden bridge where the road passed which went from
the city to the cow-sheds . . . he awoke from the delightful state
into which he had plunged. He was like a man not knowing
what he did (or) what he was going to do.
LESSON ELEVEN
150. The Reciprocal or Co-operative Verb
The addition of -f to verb-stems ending in a vowel, -if 4 to those
ending in a consonant, often conveys that the action is performed
by more than one agent, either in fco-operation or in opposition :
sevmek , to love ; sevigmek , to love one another
oynamak , to play ; oynagmak , to play together
garpmak , to hit; garpigmak , to collide
ddvmek, to beat ; doviigmek, to fight one another
gormek , to see; goriifinek, to see one another, have an inter-
view, converse
Not all verbs in f have this force ; e.g., geligmek is not 4 to come
together * but 4 to develop *, yetigmek is not 4 to suffice one
another * but 4 to grow up \ Often they have a reflexive sense :
karma k , 4 to mix 9 ; kanjmak , 4 to mix oneself in, to interfere
Note : Reciprocal verbs may be used impersonally in the
passive (§ 137 (5)): Arkadagla ddviif-ul-iir mu? ( 4 is fighting-with-
one another done with-the-friend ? ’), 4 Does one fight with
friends? 1 2
151. The Causative Verb
4 His eyebrows rose; he raised his eyebrows.* 4 The tree fell;
he felled the tree.* 4 Raised ’ and 4 felled ’ arc causative verbs ;
he caused his eyebrows to rise, he caused the tree to fall.
(1) Most causative verbs in Turkish are formed by adding
-dir* to the stem:
bilmek, to know; bildirmek , to make known
olmek, to die ; oldurmek, to kill
unutmak , to forget ; unutturmak, to cause to forget
(2) Stems of more than one syllable, ending in a vowel, add -t:
oku-mak , to read ; oku*t-mak , to cause to read, educate
anlamak , to understand ; anlatmak , to explain, narrate, tell
106
LESSON ELEVEN 107
(3) Stems of more than one syllable, ending in r or /, often*add -/ :
oturmaky to sit ; oturtmak , to seat
danlmdk , to be cro» ; danltmak , to annoy
(4) A few monosyllabic stems, mostly ending in k y add •it * :
korkmak , to fear ; korkutmak , to frighten
nkmak , to flow ; akitmak , to let flow
(5) About twenty monosyllabic stems (half of them ending in
f or j) add -tV 4 :
pifmek , to cook (intransitive : jffe# pi$iyor y the vegetables are
cooking) ; pifirmek, to cause to cook, to cook (transitive :
sebze-yi pipriyor , she-is-cooking the vegetables)
doginak, to be born ; dogurmak , to give birth to
bitmek, to come to an end ; bitirmek , to bring to an end
The other common verbs of this class are :
batmaky to sink
gepnek, to pass
ufmak , to fly
ifmek , to drink
yatmak, to lie down
du§meky to fall
duymak, to perceive
kafmaky to escape
apnaky to pass over
doymak, to be satiated
(6) Three common verbs add - erj -ar :
fikmak, to go out ; pkarmak , to bring out, extract, expel
gitmeky to go ; gidermek, to remove
kopmaky to break off, out (intransitive) ; koparmak , to break
off (transitive), to cause to break out
(7) The following form their causative irregularly:
kalkmak, to rise, depart ; kaldirmaky to raise, remove
gortnek, to see; gostermeky to show (also gordiirmeky see Note (i))
emmeky to suck ; emzirmek, to suckle (also erndirmeky to cause
to suck)
(8) The object of the simple verb remains as object of the
causative, while the subject of the simple verb Js put into the
dative case :
daktilo mektub-u yazdi , the typist wrote the letter; ben
daktilo-ya mektub-u yaz-dir-dtm, I got the typist to write the
letter (to- the- typist I-was-the-cause-of-writing)
108 TURKISH
1 3 iz miize-yi gezdik , we went- round the museum ; Orhan biz-e
miize-yi gezdirdi , O. took us round the museum
if-im-i yapttm, I did my job; ifirnj siz-e yaphrditn, I got you
to do my job
But if the simple verb has no object, its subject becomes the
object of the causative :
focuklar park-la geztyorlar , the children arc going-round,
going-for-a-walk, in the park; (ocuklar-i parkta gezdiri -
yorlar , they arc taking the. children for a walk in the park
otobiis hareket etlu the bus started; jofor otobiis-u hareket et-tir-
di , the driver started the bus
(9) As well as ‘ to make someone do something \ the causative
verb may mean 4 to let someone do something \ particularly in
the negative : onu soyle-t-mediler , 4 they didn’t let her speak \
kag-ir-mak (‘ to let escape ’) is 4 to miss *, e.g., a train.
(10) A causative verb may take an additional causative sufiix:
et pifti , the meat cooked ; a§gt et-i pis-ir-di, the cook cooked
the meat ; ev hatmni ei-i aggi-ya pi§-ir-t-li , the housewife
made the cook cook the meat (was the cause — to the
cook- - of causing the meat to cook)
fare oldii , the mouse died ; ben fare-yi ul-dur-diim, I killed the
mouse (I raused-to-die) ; kmim buna fare-yi ul-dur-t-iu ,
my wife made me kill the mouse (was the cause- to me
— of causing the mouse to die)
Note (?) : gormek can mean not only 4 to see’ but also * to
undergo, receive * {tahsil gormek , * to receive education, study *)
and 4 to sec to, perform In this secondary sense the causative
is gardurmek : bit vazife-yi ben gbrdum, ‘ I saw to, performed, this
duty’ ; bu vazifeyi bana gbrdiirdii . ‘ he put this duty on to me’.
Note (ii) : Reflexive and reciprocal verbs may be made
causative : bulmak , ‘ to find ’ ; bnlunmak , 4 to find oneself, be ’ ;
bulundurmak , ‘ to cause to be, to keep \ Bakan-la goriijmck istiyoruz,
* We want to have an interview with the Minister’ ; Bizi Bakanla
gbruf-tiit-ebil-tr mhiniz? ‘Can you fix us an interview with the
Minister?’ (‘ can you make us, with the M,, see one another? ’)
But see Note ( iv ).
Note ( iii ) : Passive verbs arc not made causative, but causative
verbs may be made passive : bl-dur-ul-du, 4 he was killed \
Note (iv ) : Not all verbs in -§tir- are reciprocal and causative ;
LESSON ELEVEN
109
some of them convey an intensification of the meanings of the
simple verb : sormak ‘ to ask *, sorufturmak, * to make enquiries * ;
aramak * to seek ’, afa§hrmak 9 ‘ to investigate, research ’ ; atmak
* to throw ’, atiftirmak , ‘ tfl bolt (food), to knock back (drinks) \
152. Usks of demek
(1) As we saw in § 144, indirect speech is rendered by the
relative participle : geldiginigi sbyledi , ‘ he said that-you-had-
comc \ If the speaker's actual words arc quoted, demek and
not soylemek is used for 4 to say \ If Osman says to you Tann
gehniyecegim , ‘ I shan’t come to-morrow \ you may pass the
information on in three ways :
(a) Osman, yarui gelmiyccegini sdyledi (O. stated his-not-bcing-
about- to-come), Osman said that he wouldn’t come
to-morrow.
(b) Osman ' yarm gehniyecegim ' dedi , O. said, ‘ 1 shan’t . .
(c) Osman dedi hi ^ y arm gehniyecegim O. said (that), 4 I
shan't . .
It will be noticed that part of demek may either follow the
quoted words (like our ‘ “ I shan’t come,” said he ’) or precede
with hi. * that *. In this construction (c) hi is not translated into
English, so 4 He said, 44 No ’* ’ is Dedi hi 4 hnyir while 4 “ No,”
said he ’ is ‘ Htiyir ’ dedi.
As the actual words of the speaker can be introduced only by
part of demek , 4 lie shouted, 44 No ” 4 4 4 Where? ” he asked ’ are
rendered 4 44 No,” saying he shouted*, ‘“Where?” saying he
asked 4 Saying ’ in such contexts is diye, an adverbial form like
ge$e, kala (§ 133 ; cf. § 88, Note). 4 Hayir ’ dive haykirdi ; 4 Nerede? *
diye sordu. 4 Sigara iplmez 9 diye bir lecha, 4 A 44 No Smoking ”
sign * (‘ cigarette is- not -smoked saying a board ’).
(2) dive does not only introduce quotations; it is used to intro-
duce unspoken thoughts too:
Onu gelecek diye behhyorum (him 4 he will come * saying 1 am
awaiting), I am awaiting him in the expectation that he
will come.
Degifihlik olsmi diye otobiisle geldih , For a change ( 4 change
lct-thcre-be ’ saying) we came by bus.
Adet yerini buhun diye . . . (‘ let custom find its place ’
saying), As a matter of form, through force of custom.
Ito TURKISH
Henfa the common Ne diye . . .? (‘what saying?*) ‘with
what unspoken thoughts, with what motive, what*s the idea
of . . . ? * Ne diye sizi yolladilar ? ‘ What was their idea in sending
you? * If a self-assertive citizen is tolct, on entering a railway-
compartment, Teryok ! ‘ No room ! * and at once notices a vacant
seat, he may say Ne diye yer yokmuf ? ‘ What do you mean, “ No
room **? * The -mu/ implies that there is no visual confirmation
of the statement.
(3) demek is used with the 3rd person singular of any tense of
olmak for * to mean *, but only when the subject is inanimate, a
word or a concept :
Bu soz ne demek(tir) ? (what is this word to say?), What does
this word mean ?
Ingilizcede ‘ army * ordu demek(tir) ; * armies * de ordular
demek olacak, In-English, ‘ zft-my * means ordu and * armies *
will mean (will be to say) ordular.
Bunun ne demek oldugunu anladimz mi ? Have you understood
what this means?
With the usual conversational omission of dir , demek alone can
be ‘ it means * : Demek siz gelmiyeceksiniz , ‘ It means you won’t be
coming \
When the subject of ‘ to mean ’ is a person, use demek isternek :
Ne demek istiyorsunuz ? ‘ What do you mean ? * — - exactl^fthe French
Que voulez-vous dire ?
(4) -e demek is ‘ to call, to name ’ : Bu fifeg-e biz gill deriz ; siz
ona ‘ rose * dersiniz , degil mi ? * Wc call this flower (‘ we say for
tins flower ') giil; yop call it “ rose ”, don’„t you? *
-e demek can, of course, also be ‘ to say to ’ : Ahmed' e bir diyeceginiz
var mi ? * Have you anything to say to Ahmet, any message for
Ahmet? * (‘ . . . a that-you-will-say *).
(5) derketi 9 literally ‘ while saying is also used for ‘ and just at
that moment ’ : Ben tira$ oluyordum ; derken misdfirlcr geldi, ‘Just
as I was shaving, the guests arrived \
153. Translation of ‘ must *
‘ must, ought ’ is translated by :
(1) the addition of -meli j-malt to any verb-stem; simple, pas-
sive, reflexive, reciprocal or causative. The * I am /was 5 endings
are suffixed as required :
LESSON ELEVEN
1 14
gitmeliyim, I must go, ought to go gitmemeliyim , I must npt go
gitmelisin, thou must go, ought gitmemelisin , thou must not go
to go
gitmeli (dir), he must go, ought gitmemeli(dir), He must not go
to go
gitmeliyiz , we must go, ought to gitmemeliyiz , wc must not go
g°
gitmelisiniz , you must go, ought gitmemlisiniz , you must not go
to go
gitmeli (dir) ler, they must go, gitmemeli(dir)ler 9 they must
ought to go not go
gitmeli idim (gitmeliydim), I ought to have gone, I had to go
gitmeli idin (gitmeliydin) , thou ought to have gone, thou hadst to
go etc.
Note : The 3rd singular gitmeli means not only ‘ he must go ’
but also impersonally ‘ one must go, it is necessary to go \ Bir
fey-i iyice diifiinmeli, ondan sonra wylemeli, ‘ One-must-think-about a
thing thoroughly, after that onc-must speak \
(2) Idzun or gerek\ ‘ necessary used with a verbal noun :
iyi diifimmek gerek , it is necessary to think well
lyi diifim-me-miz Idzun, we must think well (our- thinking
well is necessary)
tira§ olma-m lazim, I must shave
1 54. ‘ so-and-so *
(1) falart, filan, fnlanca all mean 4 so-and-so, such-and-such ’ :
Ben falan oglu falamm diye anlatmaga bafladi, He began to
explain (saying) : ‘ I am so-and-so, son of so-and-so \
Fildn tarihte falanca geldi , On such-and-such a date, so-and-so
came.
(2) falan and fildn also mean * and so on, and all that * :
Toplanh-da focuk falan bulunmann , At the meeting let there
be no children and so on (i.e., babies, dogs, giggling
girls and other nuisances).
Para falan istemiyorum , I’m not asking-for money or anything
like that.
Mart-ta falan gelecekmif , He’s supposed to be coming in
March or thereabouts.
1 12
TURKISH
(3) Another equivalent of * and all that very common
colloquially, is made by repeating the word in question but with
m substituted for the initial consonant? or preceding the initial
vowel: Burada kutuyok , ‘ There’s no box here ’ ; Burada kutu mutu
yok , ‘ There’s no box or chest or case or carton or anything of the
kind here In the first example in (2) above, one could say
gocuk mocuk instead of focuk falan. Arkadaj markada § , herkes bore -
mu vermelidir , ‘ Friend, relative, it doesn’t matter who it is,
everyone must pay his debt
If the original word begins with fn, however, falan or fil&n mast
be used : Mektup falan geldi mi ?, ‘ Have any letters or postcards
or parcels or anything like that come ? ’
Note : falanmn (§ 1 10) is sometimes used for ‘ the so-manycth * :
falamnci ev-in falamnci kat-inda oturuyornm diye yazmiz, ‘Write (say-
ing) “ I am living on floor number so-and-so of house number
so-and-so
155. The Suffix -ip
(1) When a Turkish sentence should contain a pair of verbs
(the English equivalents being joined by ‘ and ’), with the same
subject and suffixes, differing only in their stems, it is usual to put
the requisite suffixes only with the second stem and to add to the
first stem the suffix (-j>)z‘//h Even if both verbs are negative, the
first stem is left positive:
(a) Oturabilecegiz , We shall be able to sit.
(b) Konu$abilecegiz , We shall be able to talk.
(a + b) Oturrttp konu$abtlecegiz , Wc shall be able to sit and
talk.
(a) Cesarel-i-ni topla-di , He gathered his courage.
(b) Sordu, He asked.
(a -(- b) Cesaretini topla-yippordu , He plucked up his courage
and asked.
(a) Oku-mah-siniz , You must read.
(b) Anla-mah-simz , You must understand.
(a -1- b) Oku-yup anlamahsimz. You must read and understand.
gelip gorur , he comes and sees
gelip gormez , he docs not come and see
gelip goremeZy he cannot come and see
gelip gormelidir , he must come and see
gelip gorenler , those who come and see
gelip gorunuZi come and see
LESSON ELEVEN
”3
( 2 ) The Turkish way of saying ‘ I don’t know whether he’ll
come or not ’ is ‘ I don’t know his-future-coming-and his-future-
not-coming using -ip : f elip gelmiyecegini bilmiyorum . Note that
in this construction the negative does not also apply to the first
verb.
Note ( i ) : Though -ip connotes * and ’ in itself, it is often
re-inforced by a following de (§ 95).
Note ( ii ) : Do not use more than one - ip in a sentence.
Vocabulary 11
ahkomak , ahkoymak , to stop, de-
tain, hold back
a llama k, to jump
batmak , to sink (intransitive), to
set (sun, etc.)
beygir , horse
bitmek, to finish (intransitive ) ,
come to an end
bulafik, infectious
delik, hole
deniz, sea; denizahi (§ 78), sub-
marine
er, private soldier
gazete , newspaper
-e gbrnmek , to bury, submerge in
hat (- tti ), line
hazvr , present, ready
israr, insistence, persistence
-den ibdret , consisting (merely) of
-e ihtiyaf , need for, of
ildn {-til), announcement, ad-
vertisement
inrnek , to descend
iflrmek, to work, function ;
ifletme , causing-to-work, ad-
ministration
karanlik , dark, darkness
kuduz , rabies, mad dog
kuvvet (- ti ), power
makina, mnkine , machine, engine
manga , section (military)
mar$andiz , goods train
muleber, valid
miwdzene, balance, equilibrium
normal (-//), normal
Pastor, Pasteur
sag, right
sefer, trip, voyage
sezmek, to discern, perceive
sol, left
tclpraf, telegram, wireless mes-
sage
top, ball, gun
virus, virus
Exercise 11
(A) Translate into English : (1) Gece karanligmda yolcu tireni
(treni) diyc mar$andiz-e binmi?iz. (2) Topta bir delik olmali,
hep hava kagiriyor. (3) Bu atla-yi§ ona muvazenesini kaybet-
tir-di. (4) Demek kagit kalem falan filan alma-m lazim. (5)
Hazir bulunanlar baki§ti. (6) Bu igki i^enlefin, yanmdakilere
TURKISH
U 4
dc ig-ir-mck isteme-leri-nde-ki israr anla§ihr §ey degildir. (7)
Ahmet Mi that Efendi’ye, $ok yazdigi i$in * kirk beygir kuwetinde
bir makina * derlermi§. (8) Gemiden ahnan son telgrafta, geminin
sulara gomulmege ba§ladigi bildirilmckte idi. (9) Pastor, her
bula^ik hastahgi doguran bir virus oldugu gibi kuduzun da bir
virus-ii olacagini sezmi§ti. (10) Deniz hatlari i§letmesi dun
sebeb-i belli olmiyan bir emirle 4 Seyyar * vapurunu seferden
alikoymu$tur. Vapur i$in sat-il-an biletler muteber olmak iizere
‘Seyyar* normal seferini cumartesi yapacaktir. (11) On dort
erden ibaret birlig-e manga derl&r. (12) Soldan degil, sagdan
yiirumelisiniz.
(B) Translate into Turkish: (1) The work finished yesterday;
I finished the work yesterday. (2) We should have had an adver-
tisement printed in the newspapers (‘ should have caused-to-
print *). (3) Will you get that book down (‘ cause-lo-descend *)
from the shelf? — There’s no book or anything resembling a book
on the shelf (4) ‘ What shall I do? * I was thinking. (5) He’s
very formal with everybody. (6) That room over there is more
spacious than this. (7) The submarine sank the ship. (8) I have
come in order to learn whether or not you have need of me.
(9) Come and see me to-morrow. (10) Will you wake me at
half-past six?
LESSON TWELVE
156. Uses of the Future Participle
(1) In English we can say 4 things to come* , meaning things
destined to come, and we can also say 4 things to eat \ meaning
things destined not to eat but to be eaten. Turkish has a similar
use of the active - ecek participle where one might expect a passive :
yiyecek geyler, 4 things to eat Comparing § 143, we may regard
yiyecek as meaning * pertaining to future eating \
Kagacak zaman geldi mi ? Has the time come to run for it ?
(the time pertaining-to-flccing).
Ne okuyacak kitap, ne de konugacak arkadagim vardu I had
neither book to read nor friend to talk to.
Utamrim ! — Allah Allah ! Ne var utanacak ? I’m ashamed ! —
Good heavens ! What’s there to be ashamed of?
A common application of this principle is with vaziyet or durum,
4 position ’ : Bunu yapacak vaziyette ( durumda ) degilsiniz , * You
aren’t in a position to do this ’ ( 4 in the position pertaining to
doing this ’).
(2) The future participle is used with kadar to mean 4 enough
to . .
bluleri uyandiracak kadar giiriiltu, noise enough to wake the
dead (the amount pertaining to waking . . .)
cuce de-n-ecek kadar ufak yapi-h bir ihtiyar , an old man small-
built enough to be called 4 dwarf ’
(3) olacak, 4 which will be is used to mean 4 so-called, sup-
posed to be ’ : Arkadafim olacak adani beni yan yolda bvrakti , * The
man who’s supposed to be my friend left me in the lurch ( 4 at
mid- way *).
157. Translation of 4 too *
The translation of 4 too ’ is one of the commonest difficulties
besetting the student of Turkish. The dictionary equivalent is
fazla (‘ in excess ’) or luzumundan Jazla ( 4 in excess of its necessity *).
The fact that both words are of Arabic origin is an indication
that wc must look elsewhere for the natural Turkish equivalent.
x i6
rURKISH
(0 tin such a sentence as ‘ I didn’t buy it, it was too dear
‘ too * should be translated simply bv fok, ‘ very \ as the causal
connection between the two paits of the sentence is sufficiently
plain Onu almadim (ok pahali idi
( 2 ) fazla may be used if the context is msuffien nt to convey the
sense of ‘too Habamz pd mbirlidir I tel belki biraz fazla
sabirh , ‘Your father is scry patient -'Ws, perhaps a little too
patient
(3) ‘ He was too tired 1o undress ‘I am too busy to go to
the pic tine s’ lor this type of sente me 1 urkish uses the con-
strue tion shown in § 13b (2j )oyun-a-tni-)ataI ladar jorqundu
(‘He was tued the amount pertaining to-mibilit\ to-undress *) ,
Smemaya g idcmiyeiel Ladar mesgidimi
158 CONDIIlONAl Si\iim*s
1 urkish his a special form of the \irb foi use while English
uses ‘ if it js -w -sa whieli hk< the di p 1st tikes the Ivpe II
endings I lie conditional of ‘ to be is
u>en if I im istl if we au
tsen if thou ait / uu if you air
i\e, if In is ruUr if the y lie
Alternate elv tin endings nnv be suffixed cf ^ d » like idi
and imi s, ise is unKeented 111 ill its persons win the^ sepuiti 01
suffixed ha^ir turn 01 h uv tm if vou iri it id) ha^ir
de s il 1 h mz or ha ~ir dti,il suit ll you lie not icadv
Vi) Ope n e oriel it 10ns if \ (lien 8
Put turn (-iff?) after the b is< of the ippiopnate tense
bilu uni , you know bit it cm if \ou know
{ di lyot lie is working { dnnn if he is woil ing
Unuyi , w< don t li 111k g/w ft if we don t dunk
l^tlad he is gen tig to < 01m ihcil 1 if he is going to e ome
indi 01 m mist it he _,i\e, has given udi \ t 01 icrmif- sc
it he gave, h is gi\ en
I lie k c are the same alttrnitive w i\s of foimiug the eonditiemal
of the c/r-past as of forming the c/r-plupc ilee t , isent (sun) ete
mav be substituted for the lypi II endings or - e miy be suffixed
to the in
Qcldi i\tm (gddnum 01 l ' ddimsc , if I came had come
geldt isen geldiysenj 01 gddmse, if thou earnest, hadst come
LESSON TWELVE
117
geldi ise (geldiyse), if he came, had come
geldi isek (geldiysek) or geldi kse, if we came, had come
geldi iseniz {geldiyseniz) or geldinizse, if you came, had come
geldi iseler ( geldiyseler ) or geldilerse, if they came, had come
Examples :
Gelirsek mektubu getiririz , If we come we'll bring the letter.
Siz gitmezseniz biz gitmeyiz. If you don’t go, we don’t go.
Soyliyecekseniz ( sbyliyecek olursamz) sovleyin , If you’re going to
tell, tell.
Temek yiyorsa dig at da bekleyin , If he’s eating, wait outside.
Anlamadimzsa daha agik konug-a-mam , If you haven’t under-
stood, I can’t speak more openly.
(2) Remote conditions : * if A should happen (but it's not very
likely/frequent), then B would/will follow ’.
For this type of sentence we use, noL the conditional of ‘ to be ’
attached to the appropriate tense-base of the required verb, but
the conditional form of the verb itself, i.e., -sem, etc., attached to
the verb-stem: gelsem, gelsen, eLc. N.B. isem, ‘ if I am olsam,
‘ if I were, if I should be
Examples :
Ben sizui yerinizde olsam onlarla iyi geginmege galig-ir-dim, If I
were in your place l should try to grt-on well with them.
Siz olsamz ne yaparsimz ? , If (it) were you what would you
do? (‘what do you do’; the aorist yaparsimz is more
vivid than the past aorist galigirdvm in the previous
example).
Haftahk toplanhlara pek gehmyor , gel se de soguk duruyor , He
doesn’t come much to the weekly meetings, and if he
does come he looks coldly on (stands cold).
Tar in gelsem olmaz mi? Won’t it do if I come to-morrow?
Gitsem mi ? Should I go?
(3) ‘ Whether A or B happens, C follows.’
The conditional of the verb is used, with dejda (§ 95) in both
‘ if ’-clauses :
Tagmur yag\a da yagmasa dayola gikmahsimz , Whether it rains
or not, you ought to go out (both if it should rain and
if it should not rain).
TURKISH
1 18
ti Biletfi * Ayakta da olsan vereceksin . Otursan da vereceksin * dedi.
The conductor (‘ ticket-man ’) said, * If you’re standing
(on foot) you’ll pay, and if you’re sitting down you’ll
pay.’
(4) Unfulfilled conditions : 1 if A happened/had happened
(but it doesn’t/didn’t), then B would follow /would have followed *.
The past conditional is used; this is formed by adding the di -
past of ‘ to be ’ to the conditional base : ol-sa-m , ‘ if I should be * ;
ol-sa-ydim (olsa idtm), 1 if I had been, if I were *.
Examples :
Elitnde olmug olsaydi buraya gelmezdim, If it had been (were
having-been) in my hand(s), I shouldn’t have come here.
Herhes bunlar gibi diiftin-se idi , fimdi hanginiz diinya-da olur -
dunuz? If everybody had thought like these people,
which of you would be in the world now?
(5) * If only. . . ! * Types 2 and 4 may express wishes, often
introduced by ktfki or kefke :
Kefki gelseler ! If only they would come !
Kefke gelseydiler ! If only they came, had come !
(6) ‘ Although.’ A conditional verb followed by de-da gives
the sense of ‘ although ’ :
Gittim-se de onu gorrnedun , Although 1 went I didn’t see him.
Kofuyor-sa da geg kalacak , Although he’s running, he’s going
to be late.
(7) ‘ Whoever, whenever, whatever.’ Sentences introduced by
such words are treated as conditionals in Turkish. The relation
between the tw r o ideas is seen in the English i If anyone comes (or
1 whoever comes ’), say I’m out ’ ; ‘ If I go anywhere (wherever
I go) he follows me ’.
Her ne ister-se yapsin, Let him do whatever he wants (for
her see § 131).
Siz ne kadar ez-il-iyor-samz biz de 0 kadar eziliyor-uz , WeTe
being squashed just as much as you are (whatever amount
you are being squashed, we too are being squashed that
amount) .
Kim galigirsa kazanir , Whoever works, wins.
Ne olursa ohm , Be it as it may (Let it be whatever it is).
LESSON TWELVE
1 19
(8) Conditional verb expressing commands. We sometimes
use an 4 if ’-sentence to express a command or request : 4 If
you’ll kindly step this wa^ Turkish makes a similar use of the
conditional verb, usually followed by an unaccented e/a , this
being simply a vocative noise, like our 4 Oh * in 4 Oh, do shut
up ! ’ Otur-samz a! ‘Do sit down ! ’ Dinlc-seniz e, * Do listen ! *
( 4 Oh, if you’d listen.’) Baksan a! ‘Do look ! * This may be
impatient or courteous, according to the speaker’s tone.
(9) Other types of conditional sentence. The two following
examples illustrate two common ways of expressing an English
4 if ’-sentence. It will be noticed that neither contains a
conditional verb. The first type is colloquial.
Ahmet degil de kim-dir? If it isn't Ahmet, who is it? (It is
not A. fall right then] and who is it?).
Orada bnlmadilar mi buraya gelirler, If they don’t find it there,
they come here (Have they not found there? They
come here).
Note (z) : eger is sometimes used to introduce conditional verbs ;
it does not affect the translation : (Eger)hava giizel olursa gezmege
gikariz , ‘ If the weather is fine we’ll go out for a walk ’.
Note ( ii ) : Here are some common expressions containing a
conditional verb : . . . ise, ‘ As for * : Hikmet ise, pek tembeldir ,
* As for Iiikmet, he’s vciy lazy ' (‘ if-it-is H. [you’re asking
about] . . .’). Ne ise, ‘Well, anyway’. Nerede ise , ‘soon’.
Oyleyse ( oyle ise), 4 if so, in that case Hig olmazsa, 4 At least ’
(‘ if-it-is-not nothing’). Z anne ^ ersem y ‘I think’ (parenthetic).
Bilse bilse 0 bilir , 4 If anyone knows, he will ’. Olsa gerek , ‘ it must
be * (‘ if-it-be, then it is as it should be ’). Allasen (colloquial),
4 For heaven’s sake! ’ (for Allaht seve^sen, 4 if-you-love God ’).
Vocabulary 12
agilmak, to be opened, to clear
(weather)
- e altfmak, to grow accustomed to
bag , orchard, vineyard
gore, remedy
dag, mountain
dert (- di ), trouble, pain
devir (-m), period, epoch
gelin, bride
gug, difficult
gtinah , sin
hah (-ki), earth
ihmal etmek, to neglect
Have etmek , to add
itimat (- dt ), reliance
kdfi, sufficient
120
TURKISH
(-$) katlanmak , to put up with,
bring oneself to, resign one-
self
keyif (-yfi), pleasure
kisim (smi), portion
kotiiy bad
Misir, Egypt
okul , school
sayfa, page
saymaky to count, consider
Sultdn , Sultan, ruler
topraky earth, land, territory
yah age
('ile ) yeksan, level (with)
zahmet (-/*), trouble, bother
Exercise 12
(A) Translate into English: (i) Topraklarindan biiyuk kismi
denizagiri bulunan Ingiltcre, denizi ihmal ed-e-miyecek vaziyet-
te-dir. (2) Ev-e yeni bir gelin gelecegi zaman odalar kafi
degilsc eve yeni bir oda ilave olunur. (3) Ogle-ye kadar hava
a^ilmazsa biz ^lkmayiz. (4) Eger son sayfayi a^ip okumak
zahmetine katlanirsa bunu gbrur. (5) Otekiler olmasa bile sade
bu ycter. (6) Eger bu keyfe ali§mi$ olsaydim, tabii ondan
vazge^mek §imdi pek gu$ gelirdi. (7) Ne soylese dinliyen olmaz.
(8) Bu devrin cserleri, biiyiik bir itimada layik degillcrsc de,
yokluk i^inde var sayilabilir. (9) Ke$ki gelip buna derdini
aulatsaydi . . . ben ona bir $are bul-ur-dum. (10) $u muharebc
bitse de! — Ne olacak bi terse? (11) Bak-ar-san bag olur, bak-
maz-san dag olur. (12;
Scv, seni seveni, hak ile yeksan olsa ;
Sevme, seni sevmiyeni, Misirda sultan olsa.
(B) Translate into - Turkish : (0 You are of the age to distinguish
good and bad. (2) Although I said * I’m not going’, they
insisted. (3) If he doesn’t know, let him ask. (4) As for my
brother, he never goes there. (3) If (only) they knew what sort
of man he is! (6) If he doesn’t come by one o’clock, don’t wait.
(7) Do be quiet! Do listen! (8) She does whatever she wishes.
(9) If anyone knows why Hasan hasn’t come to school to-day,
Orhan will know; go ask him. (10) Come what may I must
finish this letter.
LESSON THIRTEEN
159. The Verb: Subjunctive
The subjunctive form of the verb expresses not actual happen-
ings but wishes, concepts whose realization is desired. The base
is -{y)el‘{y)a, to which the Type IV endings are added. The
rule stated in § 88, Note, does not apply to the subjunctive.
ol-a-yim , may I be, let me be, that I may be
ol-a-sm, mayest thou be, that thou mayest be
ol-a, may he be, that he may be
ol-a-lvn , may we be, let us be, that we may be
ol-a-simz , may you be, that you may be
ol-a-lar, may they be, that thev may be
So from gelmek : geleyim , gelesin , gcle, gelelim , gelesiniz , geleler .
4 may I, etc., come \
Only the 1st persons, singular and plural (‘ I, we ’), arc in
regular use. The 2nd persons are uncommon, while the 3rd
survives only in a few stereotyped expressions (see Note). In
place of the 3rd person subjunctive, the 3rd person of the
imperative is used — ohun , gtlsin.
In conversation, yejya is often dropped from the subjunctive of
vowel-stems : soyleyim for soyle-ve-yim, 4 let me say * ; baflayim for
bafla-ya-yim, 4 let me begin \ Tapim is often heard for yap-a-yim,
4 let me do \ Note also napahm? for tie yapahm? 4 what are we
to do ? 5
The past subjunctive is formed, like the past conditional, by
adding idim, etc., to the base :
olaydim, olaydin, olaydi , olaydik , olaydimz , oluydilar .
geleydim , geleydin , geleydi , geleydik , geleydiniz , geleydiler.
It is used for hopeless wishes, often prefixed by ke$ki or keyke ;
cf. § 158 (5). In this sense the conditional is more common in
the spoken language. In Example 8 below we have the con-
ditional and the subjunctive side by side, with no perceptible
difference of meaning. Sometimes the subjunctive is used in
4 if ’-sentences ; Example 9 shows how this comes about.
121
122
TURKISH
Examples :
(1) Pencere-yi agayim mi? May I open the window?
(2) L&tfen bir dakika bekleyiniz bir gazete alayim , Please wait
a minute (so) that I may buy ft paper.
(3) tsier misiniz size de oku-ya-yim ? Do you want me to read
to you ? (Do you want I should . . . ?)
(4) Gidelim , let’s go ; bakalim , let’s look.
(5) Bilelstz kal-mi-yalxm ! (Lct-us-not-remain ticket-less),
Any more fares please ?
(6) Neresi ucuz ki orasi pahali olmasin ? What-placc is cheap,
that that-place should-not-be dear? (i.e., Of course it’s
dear ; what place isn’t ?)
(7) Kur$indakini ne samyorsu?) ? — Ne samtsam sanayim ! (What
do you think the-onc-facing-you ? — Whatever I think let-me-
think), Who do you think you’re talking to?— Never you
mind what I think !
(8) Kegke gel-me-ye-ydiniz. Yakut ki ben sizi gor-me-se-ydim !
Would that you had not come ! Or that I had not seen you !
(cjJ Bil-e-yditn buraya kadar gelmczdim , If I’d only known
(Would-that-l-had-known), I’d not have come this far (as-
far-as to-herr).
(10) Oturdum ki biraz dtnlen-t-yim or Biraz dinleneyim diye
oturdurn , 1 sat down so that I might (may) rest a kittle.
(11) Gelmedimz ; bari bn haber gonder-e-ydunz, You didn’t
come; you might at least have sent a message.
Note : Allah vere, * God grant ’ ; Allah veie dc yagmwr yagmasa
(‘May God give and if-only-it-tloesn’t-rain ’), 4 1 hope to goodness
it doesn’t rain’. Hayrola { Naur ola , ‘may there be good’),
‘ Nothing wrong 1 hope ? ’
160. Ki
We have met this equivalent for ‘ that * in §§ 152, 159. It is
written as a separate woid, and in speech is never accented,
thus being easily distinguishable from the suffix -hi (§ 98).
(1) Bir adarn ki nan hat dudemez Nasihat dinle-mi-yen bn adam ,
a man that doesn't listen-to advice ’.
(2) Herkes bilit ki dunya yuvarlak-tir - dunya-mn yuvarlak oldug -
u-nu herkes bihr , * Everyone knows that the world is round *.
(3) Oyle senli benh goriifityoilardi ki gorenler kirk y ill ik ahbap santrdi ,
LESSON THIRTEEN 123
‘ They were conversing so informally that the beholders thought
(them) forty-year friend (sj ’.
(4) Very often in sentences beginning with oyle or 0 kadar, 4 so,
so much the explanatory words after ki arc left to the imagina-
tion. 0 kadar eglendik ki / 4 We had so much fun that (I can’t
begin to tell you) ! * The English idiom is to omit the 4 that ' as
well. The film-title 4 How Green Was My Valley ’ became in
Turkish Vadim 0 kadar ye§ildi ki (‘ My wadi was so green that . . .’).
An intermediate stage may be seen in such a sentence as Oyle bir
steak oldu ki sormaytn , 4 Such a heat happened that — don’t ask ! * ;
i.e., 4 1 can’t begin to tell you how hot it was
(5) Note also these examples where ki is left hanging :
Dun tramvayda-yiz. Hangi giin degiliz ki. Yesterday we’re *
on the tram. Which day aren’t we, that (I should
single out yesterday?) i.e., 4 as when are we not?
Bir kadin ses-i : Ne fekiyor-sun kol-um-u herif? . . . Sustum.
Bana ne ? Ben kimse-nin kolunu fekmedim ki. A woman’s
voice : 4 What are you pulling my arm for, scoundrel ? ’ . . .
I was silent. What was it to me ? I didn’t pull anyone’s
arm that (I should think she meant me).
1 61. Points of the Compass
The new terms are given in
the right are the older terms,
current.
kuzey, North (ern)
giiney , South (ern)
dogu, East (ern)
batt f West(crn)
: left-hand column. Those on
Arabic origin, which are still
fimdl (- li ), North
cenup {’bu). South
$ark (-ki), East
garp (-bi ), West
$imalt> northern
cenubi, southern
farki, eastern
gar hi, western
kuzey dogu, North-east, fimali §arki
giiney dogu , South-east, ceniibu farki
giiney bait, South-west, ceniibu garbi
kuzey bah , North-west, fimali garbi
* Note the use of the present to make the narrative more vivid.
TURKISH
124
Note that the new terms are used both as nouns and as adjectives.
E.g., ‘ Western countries * may be : (4) bati memleketler, (b) bait
memleketleri (‘west its-countries *), or (c) garp memleketleri.
162. Adverbial Forms of the Verb
The following suffixes, all subject to vowel harmony, are attached
to verb-stems, withjy as buffer-letter after vowels.
(1) -e . . . -c
Denotes repeated action accompanying that of the main verb
and by the same subject. Usage requires a pair of verb-stems
when this suffix is used : gege , kala and diye are exceptional (§§ 133,
152; see also 176 (3), (5), (7)). The accent is on the -/of the
first verb of the pair; for this and for the doubling cf. § 96 (2).
Bile bile yalan soyler , He tells lies deliberately (knowingly).
K'ofa koga geldi , He came a-ru lining.
Sora sora aradigi ycri buldu , With-constant-asking he found
the place which-he-sought.
Instead of repeating the same stem, two different stems of
related meaning may be used: Oksvr-e aksir-a odama girdi ,
* Coughing and sneezing he entered my room
(2) - ereh
Shows action accompanying or slightly preceding that of the
main verb. It is often interchangeable with -c . . . - e , but does
not connote repented action :
Aglik grev-i yaparak bldii (b) -doing hunger its-strike he died).
He died, having gone, on hunger-strike.
Istemiyerek or Istemiye istemiye gitli , Unwillingly he went.
The subject of the - erek is usually that of the main verb. The
chief exception is olarak , which may be translated 4 as, as being,
for, by way of’ or simply omitted in translation:
7 urkiye'ye ilk defa olarak bin doktiz yiiz kirk sekizde gittim , I
went to Turkey for (‘ it being ’) the first time in 1948.
Size fu kalemi hediye olarak veriyorum , I am giving you that
pen as a present.
Bana yol para-si olarak on lira verdiler , They gave me 10 liras
for fare (being journey its-money).
A colloquial alternative is - erekten ,
LESSON THIRTEEN
125
( 3 ) ’i” ce
Action just preceding th&t of the main verb: ‘ on doing . . .*
The subject may differ from that of the main verb :
Bahar gelince gi getter agar , At the coming of Spring, the
flowers open.
Pencere-yi agip Mar mar ay a bak-inca kargtmda Adalari gordiim ,
On opening the window and looking at (the Sea of)
Marmara, I saw the Islands facing me.
Sizi gorimee tarndim , I recognized you at sight (on-seeing).
Yuzbagi ‘ ndbetgi neredc ? 5 diye sor-unca gagirdim, burada
olduganu soyledim , On the Captain’s asking ‘ Where’s the
sentry ? ’ 1 was surprised (and) said he was here.
Sizden Utah islemigtim , (yiz) uer-me-yince bir tarn satin aldim , I
had asked you for the book ; you not giving (it) I bought
one.
bana gelince (coming to me), as lor me
(4) - inceyc kadar (-iticcye dek)
‘ Until ' :
Posta-ci gelinceye kadar bekledik , We waited until the postman
came.
Hava agilvicaya kadar yola gik-mi-yahm , Let’s not go out till
the weather clears up.
(5) -meden
1 Without, before * :
Size sormadan kalcmimzi almigtim , I bad taken your pen
without asking you.
Siz olmadan yapamayiz , We cannot do without you (you
not-being).
The sense of ‘ before ’ may be emphasized by adding evvel or once :
Ben gelmeden ag gun evvel Konya' y a gitmig , ‘ He went to K. three
days before I came \
A less-common alternative form is - mezden .
Note : It is clear from the accentuation that the -me- is felt to
be the suffix of the negative, not of the verbal noun. Vet the
-1 den is felt to be the ablative suffix, which historically it is not:
hence the construction with evvel, once (§§ 101, 129).
126
TURKISH
(6) - dikien sonra
‘ After * : Mektub-u oku-duktan sonra geri verdim , * After reading
the letter I gave (it) back \
(7) -eli (- eli beri 9 - eliden beri)
* Since * : Buraya geleli hig mektup yazmadim, * Since coming here
I’ve written no letters at all \
The subject of the 4 since ’-clause may be shown by inserting
the requisite noun or pronoun : IhnjKtz buraya geleli, 4 Since I /the
girl came here \ Alternatively, the di-past may be used before
the - eli form of the same verb :
buraya geldim geleli, since I came here
oraya vardimz varah, since you arrived there
§u kapidan gikti gikali, since she went out of that door
The negative verb with - eli is best translated as positive:
Oglunuz magallah (§ 177) biz gormiyeli gok biiyumiif, 4 Your son has
grown a lot since last we saw him * (‘ since we have not seen ’).
(8) - dikge
Denotes 4 all the time that . . or 4 every time that . . .’
The exact translation depends on the context :
Insan yaga-dikga bilgisi art-ar , So long as man lives, his
knowledge increases.
Kiz giil-dukge yiizimde gullcr agihr ; agla-dikga gbzlerinden
inciler sagtlunmg , It is said that every time the girl laughs,
roses bloom on her face; every time she weeps, pearls
are scattered.
Fil gibi, yedikge yer, Like the elephant, the more he cats, the
more he eats.
Her ‘ every * is sometimes added : Onu her gordiikge daha gok sevi-
yorum , 1 The more I see him, the more I like him \
gitlikge (as it goes), gradually
oldukga , rather, quite, quite a lot
(9) -meksizin
* Without ’ : Bir dakika bile kaybetmeksizin geldiler , * They came
without losing even a minute \ - meden is commoner in this
meaning.
LESSON THIRTEEN
127
(10) -mektense
* Rather than ’ : Sinemaya gitmektense 9 burada oturup konufahm ,
‘ Rather than go to the pictures, let’s sit here and talk \
Vocabulary 13
abla , elder sister
amma , but
Avrupa , Europe
boyun (-ynu)> neck
bukrnek, to bend
cairn (-mu), mosque
tabuk, quick
I e$me y fountain
ddhi , genius
- e devam etmek , to continue at,
with
dugun, wedding
elbue, clothes
ei lew nek , to get married
Jeldkft, catastrophe
gopnek , to change one’s abode,
depart
gunef, sun
i$le, behold, you see , there you ar e
itmek, to push
itiraz eirnek , to raise objections
izm (- zni) 9 leave, permission
Kabul etmeky to accept
knkmak , to push, prod
kalabaltk , crowd
Aarfrr, destiny
Aar, profit
kuL slave
lokma , morsel
megetki (with subjunctive), un-
less
omuz , shoulder
sayiklamah , to rave about, talk
in one’s sleep
\ilkmck, to shake, shrug
sonmek , to be extinguished, go
out (light)
7 am i 9 God
funs, heads (or) tails; yazi
two atmaky to toss a com
Exercise 13
(A) Translate into English : ( 1 ) Met* * si al tmi* dort kuru§a alman
bir kuma§-i (§ 165 (1)) ka^a satmabdir ki her metresinde yuzde
sekiz k&r biraksin? (2) Bu i* bitmiyecek, megerki siz de yardim
ed-c-siniz. (3) Evlcndik evleneli hu, sayikladigini i$itmedim.
(4) Dunya dunva olali son sava§ (harp) kadar buyuk felaket
gormemi§tir. (5) Ba>ka elbise almiyayim demi&tim amma §imdi
i§te arkada$imin dugunu gikti. (6) Kalabaligi ite kaka yarip
vapura bindik. (7) Ben bu dunyadan, dahi'nin ne demek oldu-
gunu ogrenmedc n go<;up gidec cgim. (8) Naim Efendi omuzlarim
silkti ve ‘ne yapalmi, kader boyle imi§ ’ dc-r gibi boynunu buktu.
(9) Ablasi Avrupa 5 dan dondukten sonra her §ey degijmege
128
TURKISH
ballad, (io) Tanri vermeyincc kul ne yapabil-ir? (n) Ala-
cagmiz radyo’yu yazi tura atarak se^meyiniz ! (12) Siz sigaranizi
i^-inceye kadar, ben yerinizi koru-r-un?,
(B) Translate into Turkish : ( 1 ) So long as the sun is not ex-
tinguished, life will continue. (2) Istanbul is being gradually
left without trees. (3) I shall be able to read your article only
after finishing the work I have in hand (which-is-in-my-hand).
(4) Without eating a morsel of bread we had set out (had-gone-
oul to-the-road). (5) Whenever the rain falls I always remember
that day. (6) One does not cfyter a house without obtaining
(taking) permission from-the-owner-ol-it. (7) Some (as-much-as)
two hundred metres to (in) the west of the mosque there is a
newly built fountain. (8) Without raising objections he accepted
what I said. (9) It’s turned (the hour has passed; half-past
seven; let’s be quick; we’ll be late. (10) Which day may 1
come to you?
LESSON FOURTEEN
163. Adverbs of Time
The English equivalents are italicized in the translation of the
examples.
arhk , * at last, this is the turning-point, any more ' :
Artikyaz geldi , Summer has come at last .
Btkltm artik , Di'e-stood-it-a-long-time-but-now Pm fed up.
A)ttk or ay a gitmem , I shan’t go there any more.
daha, 4 still, yet * ; in negative sentences, * not yet * :
Dahayaliyor mu? Is he still lying in bed?
Mehmet daha burada midir? Is M. still here?
Daha gitmedi mi ? Hasn’t he gone yet ?
Bir saat daha (or Daha bir saat) beklemeli, It is necessary to
wait one hour more.
Daha diin beraber otwrup konufuyorduk , Only yesterday we were
sitting and talking together.
Daha §imdi burada idi , He was here just now.
hala, ‘ yet may be substituted for daha in the first three
examples. See § 12.
hernen , 4 at once, just about ’ :
O girince hemen ayaga kalktdar , As he entered they at once rose
to their feet (to the foot).
Ben hemen 0 siralarda gelmi$tim , I had come just about at that
time.
In the latter sense, hemen is often doubled : Ifler hemen hemen
bitmek iizere , 4 The work is just about on the point of finishing \
heniiz in positive sentences ~ 4 just now, just ’ ; in negative
sentences = 4 not yet \
Heniiz uykudan kalkmiftim , I had just risen from sleep.
Dun gelmifler , ben kendilerini heniiz gormedim , They came
yesterday (I’m told) ; I’ve not seen them yet.
129
£
TURKISH
130
yine^gene, ‘ again, still yet \ But in negative sentences ‘ again 9
is bir daha :
yine gitsin , let him go again
bir daha gitmesin , let him not go again
arasira , ‘ at intervals, now and then
b&zan , bazen , Kim vakit , ‘ sometimes 9 .
Air an evvel, bir giin evvel, 4 as soon as possible \
bundan boyle , 4 henceforth \
ddirna , A*?r zaman , her vakit , 1 always \
detain, 4 just a little while ago *.
derhal, 4 immediately \
ekseriyetle, 4 usually ’ ; umumiyetle , 4 generally, as a rule \
‘ early 9 ; ‘ late 9 ; erge f, 4 sooner or later \
ertesi giin , ‘ the following day 9 ; ertesi yil, ‘ the following year \
evelsi gtin , 4 the day before yesterday \
ewe Id, ilkin , ilka nee, ‘ first of all
ge^enytl, ge$en sene, 4 last year \
gimdiiZy 4 (in the) daytime 9 ; gccegundiiz, 1 by day and by night \
oAz/r gun , 4 the other day \
.szA' jiA, ‘ very frequently 9 .
vaktiyle , 4 formerly, at the right time \
akfamleyin, 4 in the evening 9 : sabahleyin, 4 in th^ morning 9 ;
geceleyin , 4 at night 9 ; ogleyin, 4 at noon \
akfamlari , 4 in the evenings 9 ; sabahlan , 1 in the mornings
Aijzw, 4 in winter 9 ; yaztn , 4 in summer 9 ; ( ilk)baharda , 4 in
spring 9 ; sonbahard#) 4 in autumn 9 .
jVbte ( i ) : r l 9 he in 6f kifin, yaziri is not the genitive suffix but an
old instrumental case-ending.
Note ( ii ) : mat ( 4 hour 9 ) also means 4 point of time 9 : 0 saat
geldi, 4 He came at that moment
164. The Suffix -cesine
This extension of the adverbial -ce (§ 96 (3)) is mostly attached
to participles :
Vaka-yi kendi gozleriyle gormiiffesine anlatti , He described the
event as-if-havi ng-scen with his own eyes.
El-im-i kopanrcasina sikti , He squeezed my hand as-if-
breaking-(it)-off.
LESSON FOURTEEN
*31
165. Bir
(1) Nouns qualified by J?ir are not necessarily indefinite (§§ 56,
57) : Gozlerimle oturacak bir yer ara-r-ken arkadafim bana bo$ kalan
bir koltug-u goslerdi, ‘ While I was looking round for (‘ while-seek-
ing with-my-cyes ’) a place to sit, my friend showed me an arm-
chair (or £ seat in the stalls ’) which remained vacant yer
really is indefinite and remains in the absolute case, while the
koltuk 9 being adequately defined, takes the definite object ending.
(2) The fact that bir may often be translated ‘ some, any ’ —
bir $ey istiyor musunuz ? ‘do you want anything?’ — explains its
use with plural nouns :
bir zamanlar (some times), formerly
bir feyler mirildamrlar , they mutter something(s)
(3) We say : ‘ Let’s have a coffee ’ ; ‘ Bring me a whisky-and-
soda \ This construction is more widely used in Turkish: Bana
bir su (bir fay) getinniz , ‘ Bring me a (glass of) water ’ (or ‘ of tea *).
Cf. bir farapnel , ‘ a (piece of) shrapnel in Military Extract 2,
p. 160.
(4) As an adverb, it means ‘ only, once ’ :
Bir gordiigumu bir daha umitmam , What 1 have once seen I do
not forget again.
Her haftada bir gelir y He conics once a week.
Her ^ey bitti , bit bu kaldi y Everything is finished, only this is
left.
(5) §oyle bir means * just a bit ’ :
§hyle bir gez-ip geldik , We’ve just been for a bit of a stroll
(We’ve just strolled and come).
Once fbyle bir duftindu , sonra otur-up iki mektup yazdi, First he
just thought a bit, then he sat clown and wrote two letters.
(6) bir den y ‘ all at one go ’ : ilac-i birdeti ifmelisiniz , ‘ You must
drink the medicine all at one go, at a draught ’.
(7) Note also :
birdenbire } suddenly
ikide bir(de), frequently
bir vurmif bir yokmu$ y once upon a time (once there was and
once there wasn’t)
N.B. iki gtinde bir , ‘ Every third day ’.
132
TURKISH
1 66. The 3rd-person-possessive Suffix
The student will by now have an iiea of the enormous part
played in Turkish by the suffix -(s)i. To summarize: it may
relate the word to which it is attached (a) to a preceding word
in the genitive case : Bu kitab-m bir nusha-si, ‘ One copy of this
book * ; ( b ) to a preceding word in the absolute case : Sovyet
hukumet-i , 4 The Soviet Government * ; (c) to a word understood
from the context but not expressed : Miidiir , oda-si-nda-dtr , ‘ The
Director is in his room i.e., rniidpr-im odasinda . Bu soz yer-i-nde-
dir , * This remark is appropriate * (‘ in-its-place ’). §u kumag gok
pahah, Ondati daha ucuz-u yok mu? 4 That stuff is too dear. Isn’t
there any cheaper (of it) ? 9 Of. vaktinde , Exercise 8, A. (5).
The antecedent may be quite vague (cf. bir-i 9 §131); it may
be the whole circumstances of an action :
lyi-sij hep beraber kalk-ip oraya gidelim , The best thing to do
is (the-good-of-it), let’s all get up and go there together.
Hasil-i, ne yaptimsa fayda etmedi, In short (thc-result-of-it),
whatever I did achieved nothing.
Fena-si fu-dur ki . . The worst part about it (the-bad-of-
it) is this, that . . .
Dogrti-su . . . (‘ the-true-of-it ’), To tell you the truth . . .
Daha dogrusu . . To be more precise . . . »
tcab-i-nda . . . (in-its-ncressitating), If necessary ... If
need arises . . .
Daha aci-si . . . (the more-painful-of-it), Still more painful
is the fact* that . . .
Eski-sigibi . (like thc-old-of-it), As before, as of old . . .
§ura-si da var . . . (this-placc-of-it also exists), There’s this
point about it too . . .
Ora-si oyle (that-placc-ol-it is thus), That's so.
lnad-i-na (for-the-obstinacy-of-it). Just to be aw’kward,
Out of sheer cussedness.
Tiirkgesi . . . (the-Turkish-of-it), In plain language . . .,
To put it bluntly . . . ( Tiirkgesi , sen bu ifi beceremedin ,
To put it bluntly, you haven’t handled this matter
properly.)
167. Other Useful Adverbs, Conjunctions and Particles
ddeta , * virtually, simply, pretty well
dferin, 6 Bravo ! '
LESSON FOURTEEN
133
amma, ama,fakat 9 Idkin , ‘ but ’ (Idkin is old-fashioned). *
ancak , yalmz, 4 only See JVote.
afkolsun, (a) * Bravo ! * ty) 4 It’s too bad of you ! *
b&ri y hif olmazsa > 4 at least, at any rate \
. . . bile, baud . . 4 even ’ :
Beni bile aldatti , He deceived even me.
Daha kalkmadt bile , He hasn’t even got up yet.
Hattd goziimle gorstm inanmam , Even if I should see it with
my (own) eye I shan’t believe it.
For an example of bile and hattd used together see Exercise 14,
No. 18.
bilhassa , 4 especially ’.
dahiy 4 also \
elbet , elbette (both accented on first or second syllable), * cer-
tainly *.
es&sen, z&ten, * essentially, as a matter of fact * : Zahmet oldu
de-me-yin, ben esasen gelecektim , ‘ Don’t say it was a bother; as a
matter of fact I was coming anyway ’.
eyvah, * Alas ! Oh, dear ! *
gerek . . . gerek(se) . . . ; hem . . . hem . . ‘ both . . .
and . . .’
hakikaten , gercekten, sahiden, ‘ truly, really
hem , 4 and, and indeed, in fact ’ : Gidiyor , hem kofarak gidiyor ,
He’s going; in fact, he’s going at the double \ Hem de nasil! is
exactly the American * And how ! 5
ha ? asks indignant questions : Bizi gormeden gitti ha ? * He’s
gone without seeing us, has he? *
halbuki, oysa ki , 4 whereas ’.
hani , haniya introduces question*, about something expected
which hasn’t materialized or whose absence is regretted:
Haniya $ama$ir-im? Where’s my laundry then?
Ham gidiyordumiz ? I thought you were going ?
haydi, 4 Come on ! ’
hele, 4 at least, just’: Hele bak , neler soyluyor ! ‘Just look, the
things he’s saying ! *
imdat, 4 Help ! ’
madem , rnademki , 4 since, inasmuch as ’.
meger , 4 it turns out that . . (with -m*V, § 134): Meger ben
TURKISH
134
aldan-nhf-im, 4 So I’ve been deceived ! * Note also megerki ,
Exercise 13 , A. ( 2 ).
meseld, 4 for example *.
mutlaka , ‘ absolutely, positively
neyse , ne ise , 4 well, anyway *.
nitekim , won/ At, ‘just as, in the same way as \
pekdld, 4 all right ! ’ Pekdld, madem biliyordunuz ne diye soyle -
mediniz ? 4 All right, since you knew, what was the idea of not
saying? *
peki (for pek iyi), 4 very good, very well *.
sahi ? sahi mi ? 4 Really ? ’
sakin, 4 Mind ! Take care ! ’
sanki ( san ki , 4 suppose that ’), 4 As if, suppose * :
Sanki sahiden oyle soylemifirn , wi? $ikar? Suppose I really did
say so, what of it? (what comes-out ?).
Sanki ne olmu$? What’s supposed to have happened?
Sanki ba§ka bir otd yokmiq gibi ! Anyone would think there
wasn’t another hotel! (Like as-if there wasn’t , . .).
tabii, 4 naturally, of course ’.
veya, y&hut, ya, * or ’.
ya has a large number of uses, the commonest of which may be
grouped thus: (a) 4 yes indeed’, (b) ‘and what at>out . . .?*
(at the beginning of a clause), (tj 4 isn’t that so? ’
Examples :
(a) 0 da gelmdi imif. — Gelmeli ya ! They’re saying he
ought to have come too. — Yes indeed, so he ought !
(b) Siz konferam-a gidiyorsunuz , ya ben ne yapayim ? You’re
going to the lecture; and what about me, what am I to do?
(c) Ham meyva alacaktimz ? — Dun aldim ya ! 1 thought you
were going to buy some fruit?- -Well 1 bought (some)
yesterday, didn’t I?
ya . . . ya . . . veya ( yahut ) ...» 4 Either . . . or . . . or . . .*
yemi , 4 it means ’ : Gidecek mimnzyani ? ‘ It means you're going? ’
yaztk s 4 what a pity.’ Taziklar olsun ! 4 Shame ! ’
yoksa ( 4 if not ’), 4 otherwise, or
Note : yalniz, 4 only ’, but yalniz, 4 alone ’ ; yalniz ba$ima , 4 all
by myself’.
LESSON FOURTEEN
135
168. The Suffix -esi
-esi attached to verb sterns is an old form of future tense. Its
chief use nowadays is in cursing, sometimes with - ce added :
Kor olasi(ca) ! May he become blind !
Ad-i batast(ca) ! May his name sink !
Ip-e gelesi(ce)> May he come to the rope !
Such expressions also serve as adjectives — kor olast herif ! 4 The
damned scoundrel ! ’ — and nouns. Adi batasi , in particular, is
applied to diseases: Qocuk bu adi batasi-ya tutulmuf , ‘ The child has
caught this damnable-thing
169. The Suffix -da§
Denotes 4 -fellow ’ : the vowel is invariable.
arha-da$ (back-fellow), friend
din-da$ (religion-fellow;, co-religionist
meslek-taj (profession-fellow), colleague
vatan-da§ (motherland-fellow), fellow -citizen
The non-harmonic kardef , ‘ brother \ of Istanbul Turkish, is
kardaf in local dialects ; this for an earlier karm-daf , 4 womb-
fellow
4 Namesake ’ is ada ^ though one would expect a double d
(1 ad * name ’).
170. Diminutives
The following suffixes have the sense of 4 little, dear little *,
occasionally 4 poor little ’ :
(1) *cik (this suffix throws the accent on to the first syllable) :
ev-eik, little house
anne-cig-im , mummy
baba-cig-im, daddy
Adjectives ending in k must, nouns ending m k may, drop the
k before -cik :
ufak , tiny; ufa-cik, tiny little
yumu$ak , soft: yumufa-cik biryalak , a lovely soft bed
bebek , baby; bebecik (more rarely bebekfik), dear little baby
e$ek, donkey; ejecik or e§ekgik , little donkey
TURKISH
136
Wit^ adverbs : fimdi, ‘now’, §imidicik (colloquially fimcik),
‘ right now * ; bu kadarcik , * just this much, this small amount \
az 9 ‘little’, makes azicih or azcik. # dar, ‘narrow’, daraak ,
* rather narrow’. bir, 6 one biricik , ‘ sole, only one, unique
(2) -ce, like our ‘ quite ’, may increase as well as diminish the
force of the adjective or adverb to which it is attached : iyi, ‘ good,
well * ; iyice, ‘ quite good, pretty well ’ (distinguish from iyice,
' thoroughly’ — § 96 (3)); seyrek, ‘wide apart; seyrekge, ‘rather
infrequent (ly) ’.
(3) (0 an d ( 2 ) n-iay be combined: yakm-ca-cik, ‘very near,
pretty close
(4) - ce giz- Note especially adamcagiz , usually pityingly, ‘ the
poor chap, the poor wee man
(5) ~{i)mtrak. These are mostly used with adjectives
of colour and equal our ‘ -ish \ m The a of - mtrak (also spelled
- mltrak ) is invariable, as a rule, though some people do subject
it to vowel harmony.
san, yellow ; sanmsi, sanmlrak , yellowish
beyazy white; beyazimtrak , beyazimsi , whitish
ekfi, sour; ekfimtrak , ehfimsi, sourish
budala , fool; budalamsi , foolish
argo, slang, argot ; argomsu , slangy, slangish
( 6 ) -si is used with nouns and adjectives to mran ‘ -ish ’ :
gocuksu , ‘ childish erkeksi , ‘ mannish *; yilansi , ‘ snaky '; yegdsi,
‘ greenish
171. The Suffix -{y)ici
This suffix, attached to verb-stems, denotes regular occupation,
habitual activity (cf. -ci, § 1 1 3) : it may usually be rendered by
the English suffix ‘ -er ’ :
oku-mak, to read; oku-yuru , reader
dinle-mek , to listen ; sayin dinle-yici-ler, honoured listeners
sat-mak , to sell ; sokak sat-ici-st, street trader
hastabakici , nurse (patient-looker)
hagerat oldur-ucu ildg , insecticide (insect killer drug)
kuvvet ver-ici , bracing (strength giver)
giil-mek, to laugh; giil-dur-mek, to make laugh; gul-dur -
licit, amusing
LESSON FOURTEEN
137
Vocabulary 14
-e bagh , depending on •
beslemek , to rear, nurture
bigmekj to cut out (clothes), to
reap
bol , ample, abundant
burun (- mu ), nose
davet (-/i), invitation
fazla , excessive, superfluous
/ryfl/ (-it), fiat (~ti)> price
teacher
hiizun (- znii ), sadness
to quarrel, have a
row
hekre , sour, acrid
kogmaky kovmak (§19 (4)), to
drive away, throw out
koyun (-ynu), chest, bosom
liydkat (-ft), worth, merit
wfl/, property; -e mal olmak 9 to
cost
memnun, glad, pleased
otomatik , automatic
sira y right moment, turn
- e sokmak , to insert in, push
into
Mfl/ (-/*), question
bill, draft law
ucuz> clieap
yanmak, to be burned (col-
loquially * to be done for,
have had it ’)
yilan, snake
Exercise 14
Translate into English: (1) Kavga eder-cesine konujmiyalim.
(2) Meger koynumuzda yilan besliyormu§uz. (3) Ankaradan
ayrihrken iizuluyorurn; nitekim Istanbuldan ayrili§im da bana
hiizun vermi§ti. (4) Beni yemege beklemi$simz ; halbuki (oysa
ki) benim bu davetten haberim yoktu. (5) Ya ablaniz . . . o gel-
miyecck mi? (G) A$kolsun hocamsizden bunu hi$ beklemezdim!
— Hayrola oglum ne oldu ? (7) Hele siz oyle sdylcmemeli idiniz.
(8) O da bu i$lere burnunu soktu ha? (9) Sakin soylediklerimi
unutmayin. (10) Bir gortirse yandik. (11) Adeta kogulmu§tu,
artik gelmez diyorduk, i§tc yine geld i . (12) Herkes gitti, bir o
kaldi. (13) Gozti c^ikasica! (14) Bu da fazla sual ya! (15)
Qocuklarin elbisesi bolca bigilmclidir. (16) Hallerinde benim
geli§imden mcmnun olmadiklarini gosteren bir kekremsilik vardi.
(17) Bir §cyin ucuz veya pahali olmasi her 'akit mal oldugu
fiyata (fiate) bagli degildir. (18) Sirasi gelen mcmur otomatik
olarak terfi edcrdi. Ogrendigimize gore yeni tasarida memurlar
zamana dcgil liyakate gore terfi cdecekler, hatta icabmda bir
senede ii$ defa bile terfi eyli-yebil-eceklerdir.
LESSON FIFTEEN
172. Modes of Address
From the beginning of 1935, every Turkish family was obliged
by law to choose a surname; the old titles Bey (‘Sir’), Pafa
(‘ Lord *), Efendi (‘ Master *) and Hamm (‘ Lady ’), all following
the name, were replaced by Bay (^Mr.*) and Bayan (* Mrs.. Miss ’),
abbreviated B. and Bn. respectively. The new terms have not
yet fully caught on, being little used except on envelopes, for
official purposes and by tram-conductors and other minor public
servants. For social purposes, Bay Hasan Tiiriikoglu and Bayan
Relate Ozturk will be generally known as Hasan Bey and Relate
Hamm. Beyefendi and Hanimefendi are even politer alternatives.
Note Mudiir Bey , * Monsieur le Directeur \
Efendi, formerly a title of royal princes, religious dignitaries
and other literates, is still sometimes applied, c.g., to elderly
manservants: Ibrahim Efendi. It also means ‘gentleman’, just
as hamm means ‘ lady Efendim is used : (a) to ask for repetition
of something not clearly heard — 4 Pardon? ’ — even when address-
ing women or children; ( b ) to give one time to think between
words : Her turlii meyva var , elrna, annul , incir . . . ejendim . . .
portakal , 4 There’s every sort of fruit; apples, pears, figs . . .
er . . . oranges
4 My friend’ is kardefun y my brother /sister ’). 4 My dear
fellow ’ is can-un my soul ’) or aztzim. .Still more affectionate is
iki goztim ( 4 my two eyes
Although the harem is a thing of the past, there is still a trace
of it in the number of alternati\es for kau, 4 wife ’ : refika , zevee , dile
( 4 family hamm (Ismail' in hammi. 4 Ismail’s lady ’), rj ( 4 mate
also -r 4 husband A polite formula for asking after the health
of the wife of a man of one’s own age is: Tenge hamm nasi l ?
( 4 How is the lady my-brother’s-wife? ’).
Distinguish very carefully between kankoca ( 4 wife-husband '),
4 a married couple ’ and kocakan, 4 old woman, old hag
173. The Arabic and Persian Element in Turkish
As has been mentioned in the Introduction, the fact that
there are a great many Arabic and Persian borrowings in Turkish
138
LESSON FIFTEEN
139
need not worry the student, who when speaking his tfiother-
tongue probably has no difficulty in using words like 4 recog-
nition *, 4 geography * and even 4 vice versa * and 4 hoi polloi
without necessarily being a Classical scholar. He may find it
instructive, though not essential, to observe how most Arabic
words are based on three-letter roots fitted to various vowel-
patterns. Words containing the letters k-t-b , for example, all
have some connection with the concept of writing:
kitab -, book
mekteb -, school
mektub -, letter
kdtib -, secretary
(1) The chief borrowing from Persian syntax was the i which
in Persian is used to link two nouns or noun and adjective, as in
4 Koh-i-Noor ’, 4 Mountain-of-Light \ Although this method of
joining w'ords is the exact reverse of the Turkish method, it was
extensively used in the official and literary language. One of
the greatest achievements of the Language Reform has been to
bring about the disappearance of this affectation except in a few
set expressions. 4 Disappointment now hayal Mikut-u (‘ imagin-
ing its-collapse * ; two Arabic words joined according to the laws
of Turkish grammar) was formerly sukut-u hayal (‘ collapse-of
imagining ’; the same words joined as they would be in Persian).
One use of the Persian construction which seems assured of
survival in Turkish is seen in the word for 4 same ’, aym , Yv'hich is
in origin the Arabic 4 ayn meaning 4 very self, counterpart ’ and
the Persian - 1 meaning 4 of * : aym adam, 4 the same man ’, origin-
ally meant 4 thc-very-self-of the man’, aym yoldan geldik, 4 we
came by the same road ’. But to translate 4 the same as ’, the
Turkish 3rd-person possessive suffix is used: Bu gbmlek sizinki-nin
ayn-i-dir , 4 This shirt is the same as yours 5 ( 4 of-yours its-counter-
part ’). The possessive suffix is often doubled in this use : Kuma$ -
in aymsi kalmatm 4 There's none of the same cloth left \
(2) A much-used Persian suffix is - hdne , 4 house usually con-
tracted to -ne after a :
kiitup-hane , library ( kutiip , Arabic plural of kitap, book)
postane , post-office (posta-hane)
hastdne, hospital ihasta-hane)
eczane , druggist’s, chemist’s shop ( ecza-hdm ;, see (3) below)
TURKISH
I40
(3) Some Arabic plurals are still in use (cf. our 4 data,
formulae, cherubim *) : miifkul , 4 difficult \ miifkiildt , 4 difficulties * ;
zat 9 4 person *, plural zevat as well as* zatlar. E$ya, the Arabic
plural of $ey, 4 thing has a different sense from §eyler ; it means
4 furniture, belongings ’ (cf. 4 I packed my things *). Ecza, plural
of ciiz , 4 part ’, means 4 drugs, chemicals * or 4 the unbound parts
of a book \ Note the pseudo-Arabic plural gidifat , 4 goings-on ’,
from gidif, 4 manner-of-going \
(4) Several Arabic plurals are used as singulars in Turkish:
amele , 4 workman ’, talebe , 4 studeiit ’, luccar, 4 merchant ’, are all
originally plurals. The singular of the last is also used : tacir , so
4 merchants ’ is tuccarlar or tacirler. Cf. e$yalar in Exercise 15,
No. 8.
(5) The Arabic verbal nouns which, with etmek , make com-
pound verbs in Turkish, retain their verbal force even without
etmek , and so can have an object in the def. obj. case :
tefrik etmek , to distinguish
Renkler-i tefrik edebilir misiniz? Can you distinguish the
colours ?
Renkler-i tefrik kolay-dir , It is easy to distinguish the colours.
Konya yi ziyaret etiik , We visited Konya.
Konya'yi ziyaretimiz t our visiting K., our visit to K.
(6) The Arabic preposition ild, 4 to ’, is used between numbers :
sekiz ila on bef milyon lira, 4 8-15 million liras ’. 'I ’his is the only
preposition used independently in Turkish, as distinct from those
which form part of Arabic phrases, like the bi- ( 4 in ’) of bilhassa ,
4 in particular, especially \
(7; In Arabic, adjectives are made from nouns by the addition
of long i. In Turkish this long i is written with a circumflex
accent only to avoid confusion with similar words (§ 12 (2)) :
tarih, history; tarihi, its history : tarihi, historical
Him , science ; ilmi , its science ; ilmi, scientific
But — iktisal , economy; iktisadi , its economy; iktisadi , economic
Note milliy ‘national’ ( millet , ‘nation’), but milli, 4 furnished
with a spike ’ (mil; cf. § 86).
An unsuccessful attempt has been made to replace this useful
suffix by -( s)el , with hardly any more justification than the exist-
ence of an adjective uysal, 4 compliant, easy-going ’ ; cf. uymak ,
LESSON FIFTEEN
141
‘ to conform \ One sometimes comes across tarihsely 4 historical *,
for tarihi ; siyasal , 4 political for siyasi ; ulusal , 4 national \ {ulus,
4 nation *) for milli.
174. Formation of Verbs
The following are the chief suffixes used to make verbs from
other parts of speech (cf. our 4 -ize, -ify *) :
(1) -lemek
gbz , eye ; gozlemek , to keep an eye on, watch out for
su y water ; sulamak , to water, irrigate
tekrar, again; tekrarlamak, to repeat
hazir , ready ; hazirlamak , to prepare
(2) -lenmek (the preceding plus the reflexive n — § 137)
hazirlanmak , to prepare oneself
ev , house, home; evlenmek , to get married
caw, life, soul; canlanmak , to come to life
(3) 4 e$mck {-lemek plus j — § 150)
avrupa-li, European ; anupalila$mah , to be Europeanized
dert , pain; derllepnek, to commiserate with one another
mektup, letter; mektupLaynak , to exchange letters, correspond
MV, one; birlejmek, to become one, unite
g/wzcz, not-dying ; olmezlepnck , to become immortal
(4) -(e)lmek
dogru-lmak, kisa-lmak , yiice-lmek, to become straight, short,
high
az-almak , diiz-elmek, fog-almak , to become small, orderly,
numerous
Two-syllabled words ending in a A lose it before this suffix:
kiifiik, small ; kiifu-lmek , to become small
yiiksek, high ; yukse-lmeky to become high, to rise
(5) -ermek
With w r ords of more than one syllable, only the first syllable is
used before this suffix, which is added mostly to names of colours :
aky white; ag-armak t to turn white
sari , yellow; sar-armak, to turn yellow
yejily green; ye$-ermek , to turn green
kizily red ; kiz~armak t to turn red, to blush, to be roasted Jor
fried
TURKISH
142
(6) -(fin) seme k
su , water; siisamak , to be thirsty
muhim , important ; muhimsemek , tt> consider important
benim, of me; benimsemek , to appropriate
foA:, much ; gogumsamak , to regard as excessive
little; azimsamak , to consider insufficient
jVbte : Causatives are formed regularly : sula-t-mak , ‘ to cause
to irrigate 5 ; canlan-dir-rnak , 4 to revive, vivify * ; olmezleg-tir-mek ,
* to immortalize ’ ; diizel-t-rnek, 4 level, put in order ’ ; kizar-t -
maA', 4 to roast, fry
175. Formation of Nouns and Adjectives
The following list of suffixes docs not aim at completeness but
will often help the student to guess at the meaning of a noun or
adjective from a knowledge of a kindred verb. To save space
the infinitive ending -mek has been omitted.
(0 -gi
giz to draw; (izgi, line
ser-, to spread out; sergi, display, fair
duy-, to feel ; duygu, feeling, sensation
ig-, to drink; igki (§ 44), alcoholic drink
(2) -gen
alii-, to be thrown, hurl oneself; atilgan , reckless
gekin-, to withdraw; ( ekingen , shy
unut-, to forget; unutkan , forgetful
gah$-, to work; gahgkan , hard-working
(3) -«««
£/>-, to enter; girgin, pushful
kes-, to cut ; keskiti, sharp
uy-, to conform ; uygun, suitable
hag-, to flee; kagkvi , fugitive
(4)
big-, to measure ; olgii, measure, dimension
ol-, to die ; ohi, corpse
yap-, to make ; yapu construction
yaz to write; yazi, writing, article
Note : kfzi ‘ diggings coined from kaz - ‘ to dig \ to replace the
Arabic hqfriyat 4 excavations
LESSON FIFTEEN
H3
( 5 ) -«*
kes-, to cut ; kesik, cut, broken
flf-, to open; agik, open(ed)
boz to destroy; bozuk , destroyed, corrupt
parla -, to shine ; pariah , bright
karif-, to become confused ; kan^ik , disordered
jVote : Birlejik Amerika Devletleri , ‘ U.S.A. ’ (§ 174 (3)).
(6) -i?n
0/-, to die ; ci/wm, death
c/og-, to be born; dogum , birth ( dogumevi , maternity home)
kaldir-i to raise ; kaldirim , pavement
to drink ; ifiwi, (one; drink (£/r ifiw .rw, a drink of water)
( 7 )
stipur-, to sweep ; \upruntu , sweepings
to How; akinti, current
Jdrr-, to shake ; samnti , tremor
(8) -r
Hvin-, to be pleased : jerz/y, joy
kazan. to win; kazatig. gain, profit
igreri-, to feel loathing : igren^ loathsome
176. Notes on Certain Verbs
(1) bulunmak , ‘ to be found, to be ’ : Ankara' da bulunan bir arka -
da$un, ‘ A friend of mine rc/w w 111 A. 1 , but Ankara da olan bn vaka ,
‘ an event ze/nV/z ocn/n in A.*
The c onstruction of § 130 (/n is applied to other nouns beside
the - mek infinitive, with bulimmoh for the verb ‘ to be ’ :
Omm/ a $ok mundkayi-da bulund . k, We had an intense
dispute with him (v\c-found-ourselvcs in much dispute
with him)
gbndermek nezaket-inde buldugunuz kitap , the book which you
were kind enough to send (pertaining-* >yout -being in-
the-kindness of to-send)
(2) buyurrnak , 4 to order \ is used as a courteous substitute for
other verbs :
Buyurun ! Do please come in /help yourself/sit down.
Bize buyurmaz misimz? Won’t you deign to call on us?
jVe buyurdunuz? What did you say?
TURKISH
I44
(3) Murmak , * to stand *, means 4 to continue, keep on * : (a)
When suffixed to the -e adverbial form of another verb : yaza~
durmak 9 4 to keep on writing \ ( b ) Mcfte frequently it follows the
•ip form: yazip durmak . ( c ) It sometimes follows in the same
tense as the first verb : Biitiin gun yazdi durdu 9 4 The whole day he
kept on writing \
durup dururken (‘ while standing and standing ’) means ‘ sud-
denly and without warning \
ftiyle dursun ( 4 let-it-stand thus ’) means ‘ let alone * : Cevap
vermek fbyle dursun ; mektubunu okufhndim bile , 4 I haven’t even read
his letter, let alone answer (it) \
(4) etmek and yaprnak. The usual equivalent of 4 to make, do *,
is yapmnk :
0 size hif bir sey yapamaz, He can’t do a thing to you.
Orada ne yapiyorsunuz ? What are you doing there?
Bu makina gok guriiltii yapiyor, This engine is making a lot of
noise.
If a normally transitive compound verb is used without an
object, etmek is replaced by yaprnak : Masraf-im-i hemb-ediyorum, 4 1
am calculating my expenses but Hesap yapiyorum, 4 I am cal-
culating So, too, if the verbal-noun part of the compound is
qualified: bana tesir etti, 4 it influenced me', biTl bana yaptigi
tesir , 4 the influence which it had on me
Etmek translates 4 to make ’ in, c.g., 4 10 -j- 10 make 20 ’ — on,
on daha yirmi eder — and 4 to do ’ with words meaning 4 good * or
4 bad ’ : Burnt yapntak-la fena mi ettim ? 4 Did I do wrong by-doing
this ? 5
(5) gehnek, 4 to come used after the -e adverbial form of
another verb denotes continuous action :
Bu ifler boyle olagelmig. These affairs have gone on (‘ con-
tinued-to-be ’) thus.
yapagelmek , to continue to do
The sole exception is fikagelmek, which means 4 to come up sud-
denly not 4 to keep coming up .
With the ablative, less commonly the dative, of the negative
infinitive in - memezlik (§ 129 (2)) it gives the sense of 4 to pretend
not to ’ : ifitmemezlikten geldim or ifitmemezlige geldim , 4 I pretended
not to hear \
LESSON FIFTEEN
145
Uyku-tn geldi (my sleep has come), I feel sleepy.
. . . gorecegim geldi (my-future-sceing . . . has come), I
feci I must sec . s .
Oyle gibi-m-e geliyor ki, It seems to me that . . .
IJizim geliyor , it is necessary.
(6) gilmek , ‘ to go * : there is a common idiom with this word
and the adjectives ho luhaf gw f, ‘ pleasant, curious, difficult * :
IIo$-unuz-a gidivor mu? (Does it go lo-your-pleasant?) Do
you like it?
Pek ho$-urn-a gitmiyor , I don't like it much.
Tuhaj-im-a gitti , It struck me as odd.
Guc-wn-e gilti, It oifendi d me.
(7) kulmak, * to remain, be left is used aftei "the -e adverbial
form of other verbs :
yiyli, he was surprised: ynahaldi (he- wax-lei t being-sur-
prised), he was dumbfounded
donmak , to freeze; donakfdnuik . to be left freezing, to be
petrified
Note also :
Aerede kaldiniz? Where have ton been?
Bonn knhrsti , If it is left to me, d you ask 1m .
Az kaldi (little rcniaimdi, almost; <lc kuldi nglamaga
baflyacaklim, I was within an are of starting to cry.
Kaldi ki . . . There remained the fact that . .
Furthermore . . .
(ft) olnuk, 6 to become ', is used with nouns, particularly names
of diseases, to mean * to fall victim 1. <aich * :
Tift ) oldu. He’s got typhoid.
Oksiiriik oldu , He’s caught a cough.
defolmak fto become repulsion), to Hear off, Defol !
Hop it !
Cehennem ol ! Go to hell !
Note also :
Olan oldu , It’s happened now ; there's nothing we can do.
Oldu olacak , The worst has happened ; Oldu olacak bari ben
de geleyim. Oh, well, in that case I may as well come too.
TURKISH
I46
(9) yf ugramak, 4 to drop in on, touch at, meet with \ often of
something unpleasant :
felaket-e ugramak , to meet with disaster
hayal sukutu-na ugramak, to be disappointed (§ 173 (1))
tehir-e ugramak , to be postponed
The causative ugratmak is 4 to expose to 1 : Beni hayal sukutuna
ugrathniz , 4 You have disappointed me *.
(10) vermek, 4 to give 5 , when joined to another verb-stem by
-( y)i“ 3 adds the notion of speed:
Gel-i-vcr ! Come quickly !
Otobiis dur-u-verdi , The bus stopped suddenly.
yaz-i-vermek, to scribble, to dash ofF
(11) yemeh , 4 to eat is used of undergoing something, usually
unpleasant :
toko l yemeh, to get a box on the ear
yagmur yemek, to get caught in the rain
gal yemeh* to have a goal scored against one
Bui
mirds yemek, to receive a legacy
rusvet yemeh, to take bribes
177. CxRL£iiNr.s and Pomtf Expressions
Merhaba ! 4 Hallo! * (should not be used to older people or
ladies).
Gimaydm , 4 Good- morning \
IIo$ geldiviz , ‘ Welc ome 9 — answer Hog hulduk .
Ne var ne yak? ‘What’s doing, how arc things?' — answer
lyilik saghk.
Gcccler fiayrolsun or Allah rahathk vers in, 4 Good night
Allahn ismarladik (often pronounced Alfasmarladik , k We have
committed to God ’) or Iiogga halm, 4 Good-bye ’, said by person
leaving — answer Gride gule, 4 (Go) laughingly’.
On being introduced : Mugcrref oldum , 4 I have become
honoured ’ — answer ref bam ait, ‘ The honour (is) belonging
to me ’.
Ingalldh (Arabic), 4 if God wishes used when making any
plans, even for the immediate future: Bu akgam gidiyor musunuz
yani? — Inwall ah, 4 That means you’re going this evening? 9 —
Please God ! 9
LESSON FIFTEEN
147
Mafallah (Arabic), ‘whatever God wishes*, expresses admira-
tion while at the same time warding off the evil eye. It should
always be used when admiring children.
When seeing someone about to eat: Afijet olsun, ‘let there be
health, bon appetit * — answer Omriinuz foh olsun , 1 May your life
be long *, or simply Tefekkiir ederirn.
When refusing an invitation to a meal : ^iyade olsun, ‘ May
there be superabundance
When a friend pays the bill or buys the tickets : Kesenize
bereket , ‘ Blessing to your purse \
(i Sizde ) kalstn (‘ let it remain with you ’), ‘ Keep the change \
When your host offers you coffee he will probably ask : Nasil
igersiniz ? ‘ How do you drink (it) ? 5 The alternatives are :
sade, 1 plain * fekerAz, ‘ sugarless ’ ; az, orta or gok fekerli , ‘ little-,
medium-, much-sugared \
When taking leave of your host : Bcndernze miiuiade , ‘ Permission
for-your-servant * . or Buna mustwde.
Bcif ustiine, 6 On the head i.e., * On my head be it, It shall be
done \
178. Doublets
(1) We have met numerous instances of the doubling of words
to denote intensity, e.g., §^96 (2), 99 (2), 112. Turkish is very
fond also of using similar-sounding pairs of words, like our ‘ kith
and kin ’, ‘ moiling and toiling \ Cf. § 154 (3;. Note also:
goluk (ocuk, wife and family
boy bos, size and shape (of persons )
if gug (work-toil), employment
yatak y organ (bed-quilt), bed and bedding
yorgun argin (tired-emaciated), dead beat
ufak tefek , small and trifling, odds and ends
alaca bulaia, all the colours of the rainbow
Qoluk , bos , tefek are not used except in these expressions.
(2) Words which imitate sounds are usually doubled :
fap fap dpmek, to kiss with a smacking sound
horul horul horlamak, to snore like a pig
hk hk etmek, to tick, tap
(3) A common colloquial way of emphasizing an adjective is
seen in Babasi zengin mi zengin , ‘Is her father rich ? Rich ! * —
rather like the American ‘ Is he rich or is he rich ? *
TURKISH
I48
Vocabulary 15
bind , building
bulut (-tu), cloud
cilt, binding of a book, volume ;
ciltli, bound
fatal , fork, forked, ambiguous
kind, sort
dede, grandfather
eksik, deficiency, deficient,
wanting
hurnmd , fever
idare , administration
istijdde , benefit, advantage
kapi, gate, door
kat (-It), fold, storey
honsolos, consul
kuyun (- vnu ), bosom
koyun (-yunu',, sheep
kurtulmak , to be saved, es< ape
lezzel pleasure, enjoyment
mdkul (-/«), reasonable
-r meebar , obliged to
mevsuk (-A/z), trustworthy, re-
liable
miklcyr , quantity
mukayese etmek , to compare
miihendis , engineer
miirdcaat (~ti) 9 recourse, applica-
tion
nakletmek, to remove, transfer
species
. ogrehm, teaching, schooling
the space behind anything;
/nyinden kofnvik , to run after it
(§ 126;
.w/zz/z, weapon, arm
Sofya, Sofia (capital of /?«/-
gar is Ian, Bulgaria)
'/>or, sport, games
jahsan, personally
tamam , complete, perfect
latmak ( tad -), to taste
telgraf ( ekmek , to send a tele-
gram, to wire
iwr/z, the youns^ of an ani-
mal
C'z//, envelope
Exercise 15
Translate into English: [i) Hangi siluhlarla silah-lan-ir-sa
silahlan-sin, olumden kurtularniyacak. (2) Eyvah! j^ler <;atal-
la$ti. (3/ Kapi kapi dola$ip onu aradik. (4] Dim gere dcdc-
m-in koyiiularindan biri yavru-la-mi^. (5,) Mektubu zarfa
koymak uzere iki-ye kat-la-di. (6) Hava bulut-Ian-iyor. Galiba
yagmur yagacak. (7) Bir ki?i cksik-ti, §imdi tamam-lan-dik.
(8) E§yalarimi yollamalari i<;in oraya telgraf ^ekmek isiivorum.
(9) I'j-i guc-u olmayip §urada burada dola$an kimselerc 4 Kaldirim
miihendisi ' derler. (10) Bu kitabin ecza-si ciltlisinden elli kuru§
eksigine sat-il-ir. (11) Yazma ve basma her £e§it eski kitaplar
satin alinir. Qok miktarda kitaplar, adam gonder-il-crek yerinde
alinir. §ahsan veya mektupla idare-hane-mize muracaat. (12J
Bina-nm spor ve kiituphane salonlari eski-si gibi gen^ligin isti-
fadesine a^ik bulun-dur-ul-acak-tir. (13) Dedem gazetesini
LESSON FIFTEEN
149
oku-r-ken uyu-yu-vermi§. (14) Siz bu iki §ey-i muk,ayese*ediyor-
sunuz ama, bu yaptigimz mukayese yerinde degil. (Jiinku
mukayese-si-ni yap tig in* §eyler aym nevi-den degildir. (15)
Her yil eylul son-una kadar alti ya$mi bil-ir-mi$ olanlar on dort
ya§mi tamam-la-dik-Iari ogretim yili sonuna kadar ilk okul-a
devam-a mecbur-dur-lar. (16) Olmiyacak bir i$in pe§inden
ko§-maktansa, liayatin lezzetini, el-e ge$-tig-i yerdc hcmen tad-i-
vermek §uphcsiz ki daha makul-dur. (17) Mevsuk kaynaklardan
bil-dir-il-dig-i-nc gore, Varna Konsoloslugu Sofya Konsolosluguna
nakledilerek iki konsolosluk birlestirilmi$tir. (18) Sik sik hasta-
lanir, humma ba§lar ba$lamaz Istanbul sularmi sayikla-r-di
(§ 102, Note).
LESSON SIXTEEN
179. How to Read Turkish
The large number of adverbial forms of the verb makes it easy
for the Turkish writer to ramblfc happily on, with an -ip, an
-erek or an - ince linking one thought to the next, for line after line.
Although most modern writers prefer to keep their sentences
short, a practice now taught in Turkish schools, one must be
prepared for reversions to type.
Here is a sentence from Be$ $ehir , a recent work by Ahmet
Ilaindi Tanpmar: ‘ Tnpkapidaki Ahmediye camiinin caddeye
yakin kapismdan veya bu caddenin herhangi bir bo? arsasindan,
bir yigm yangin yeriniri ustunden atliyarak gbrdugumuz abideler
?ehriyle, Yedikule kahvelerinden baktigimiz zarnan deniz kenar-
mdaki sur par^alariyle buyuk camileri birbirinc adeta ekliyen
mehtapli manzara arasirida ne kadar fark vardir.*
The first step is to glance over the sentence to get the general
pattern and then to look at the end for the verb: mirdv , 4 there
is ’. Now begin working back to find what there is : ne kadar fark,
‘ how much difference ’ ; arasirida, ‘ between \ In § 126 ( 5 ) we
saw that nouns followed by this word are linked by ile; and
there in the middle is $ehriyle , * the city of . . . and the word
before arasinda : manzara , ‘ scene \ Now we have tin' skeleton of
the sentence; the difference between the city of something and
the something scene. ‘City of’ abideler , ‘monuments’; gor-
dugibnuz, ‘ which we see ’ ; Topkapidaki A. camiinin . . . kapismdan ,
‘ from the gate of the Ahmediye mosque at Topkapi ’. Then a
phrase preceding and qualifying kapi- : caddeye yakin , ‘ near to
the main road * ; veya bu caddenin , 4 or of this road ’ ; herhangi bir
bo$ arsasindan , ‘ from any vacant building-plot of it 5 ; ustunden
atliyarak { atlamak : §88, Note), ‘by-jumping over-the-top * ; bir
yigm yangin yeriniri , 4 of a heap of (§ 1 40) conflagration-placc ’ ;
($ehri)-yle, ‘and’; mehtapli manzara, 4 the moonlit scene'; ddela
ekliyen ( eklemek ), ‘virtually linking’; buyuk camileri , ‘the great
mosques ’ ; birbirine, ‘ to one another ’; sur pargalariyie , ‘ with the
portions of city-wall ’ ; deniz kenanndaki , * which are on the sea-
* 5 °
LESSON SIXTEEN 151
shore * ; baktigvniz zaman , 4 the time pertaining- to-our-lopking ’ ;
Tedikule kahvelerinden, ‘ from the cafes of Ycdikule \
Putting it all together, #and with only the changes necessary to
make intelligible English : * What a difference there is between
the city of monuments, which we can see from the gate, nearest
to the main road, of the Ahmcdiye Mosque at Topkapi, or, by
jumping over a heap of burnt rubble, from any vacant site along
this road, and the moonlit scene which appears to link the great
mosques one to another with the portions of the city-wall along
the sea-shore, w r hen we look out from the coffee-houses of
Yedikulc \
An English author w r oulcl probably make three sentences of it:
‘ On the one hand the city of. ... On the other hand the moonlit
scene. . . . What a contrast between the two! *
180. For Further Reading
An admirable selection of annotated passages will be found in
P. Wittek's Turkish Reader (Lund Humphries), which has a
vocabulary of almost 4000 words. When that has been worked
through, the student should be able to rope with any modern
Turkish work, with the help of a dictionary. The Oxford Turkish
Dictionary , by Fahir jz and H. C. Hony, is in two volumes,
Turkish English and English-' Furkish, and is particularly rich in
the idiomatic expressions which are a part of the fascination of
Turkish.
Advanced students will learn much from Turkge Sozliik , the
Turkish-Turkish dictionary published by the Turkish Language
Society ( r Furk Dil Kurumu) of Ankara. This work gives
numerous examples showing the use of words in sentences, and
contains all the neologisms one is likely to meet, even in books
written at the height of the Language Reform Movement.
18 1. Poetic and Conversational Word-order
Jn poetry the rules of normal word-order may be relaxed to
meet the demands of metre and rhyme ; a sentence such as Taz-in
son yemig-ler-i-ne daha doy-ma-mif-tik , ‘ Wc had not yet had our fill
of the last fruits of summer may become in poetry Daha
doymami$Uk son yemiglerine yazin .
In conversation too, 'Lurks, like other people, often depart from
the strict rules of literary word-order. One tends to say first the
word that is uppermost in one’s mind. %angin var ! Kagtn
TURKISH
152
sagdaki fcaptdan, ‘ Fire ! Get out through the door on the right ! *
Kafin is the important word, and cannot wait to take its proper
place at the end of the sentence. Sahil^i var oramn , ‘ It’s taken,
that place’ (‘ its-possessor exists, of-that-place ’). Git Li mi
arkada§imz ? 1 Has he gone, your friend? *
There is a school of writers who use this essentially conversa-
tional ficedorri even in passages which do not reproduce conversa-
tion. 'The beginner will be well advised to adhere to the literary
order of words, in speaking and writing, until he has attained some
familiarity with the language.
182. Sl.ANC,
The last senlcncc of the preceding paragraph applies also to
one’s choice of' vocabulary. Turks arc so unaccustomed to
Englishmen who can speak any Turkish at all, that the visitor
to Turkey will find plenty of help and encouragement when he
tries to make* himself understood in Turkish. But few things
sound sillier than out-of-date slang, or slang used in the wrong
place. So if slang is to be learned at all it must be learned on
the spot and not from books. Anyone who has heard a visitor
from the Continent say to his hostess, “ It was a topping party,
but now I must sling my hook ", will see the fore e of these remarks.
183. Summary oi- \T.riiat Forms
'The table below shows the various combinations of the bases,
given in the first column, with the personal endings, indicated
by Roman figures and with those parts of the verb ‘ to be ’
whi< li are based on the stem /-, namely idi,' 6 he was ' (§ 82) ; ise>
4 if lie is ' (§ 158) ; and trtn^ * he is/was said to be ’ 134).
A slanting line shows that the combination belonging in that
position in the table does not exist; e.g., the dubitative irm$
cannot be attached to the definite geldt. Bracketed forms are
not much used.
'Flic Type HI endings occur only with the Imperative (not
shown here; see $ 128), the Type 1 V 7 endings only with the
Subjunctive.
To simplify the table, the combinations of imis with idim have
not been included, e.g., gel[yormu$tum , ‘ they say said that I was
coming gelmi§ imiflim , 1 they say /said that I had come \
LESSON SIXTEEN
153
! geie «,§ 159} geln'im IV) %ele\dim | { geUvmifim ;
I ' (that. I may come (that! I might come ^ . i I may come
APPENDIX
Glossary of Military Terms
Note : in the Turkish words given below, the 3rd-person
possessive suflix has been hyphenated, to show that, e.g., * at the
air base * is hava ussiinde (§ 71).
Air base, hava iiss-ii
Aircraft carrier, ugak gemi-si
Airfield, aerodrome, hava meydan-i
„ construction battalion, hava meydani in$a tabur-u
Air force, hava kuvvet-i
Royal Air f orce, Kralhk Hava Kuvvetler-i
Air raid, hava aktn-t
Ally, miillefih (- ki )
Ammunition, cephane
,, -dump, tephanc deposit
Anti-aircraft battery, ugaksavar batary a
,, gun, ugaksavar top
Anti-tank rifle, tank invar lufek
Arm-chair General, salon general -i
Armistice, mutareke
Armour (ed), zirh(li)
Army, ordu
Artillery (-man), topfu
„ barrage, topgu baraj-i
Attack, taarruz
to attac k, s taarruz etmek
Barracks, higla
Base, its (- ssu )
„ Camp, us kamp-t
Battle, rnuhdrebe
Bayonet, stingti
Bazooker, bazuka
Bomb, bomba
„ Anti-personnel, personele karji bomba
„ Atom, atom bomba-st
„ H.E., yiiksek infilakh bomba
APPENDIX
155
Bomb, Hydrogen, hidrojen bomba-si
„ Incendiary, yangin bombast
„ Napalm, jeldtinli btnzin bombast
„ Smoke, sis bombast
to bomb, bombalamak , bombardiman clrnek
Bomber, bombardiman ugag-i
Bombproof, bomba gegmez
Bulldozer, ardzi diizeltme makinesi , buldozer
Bullet, kurgun
Camouflage, gizleme> kamufldj
Casualties, zayiat (- ti )
to suffer casualties, zayiat vermek
dead (Turkish), gehit (‘ Martyr for the Faith ')
dead (other nationalities), blu
wounded, yarah
missing, ( harpte ) kayip
prisoner, esir
Cavalry, silvan
Commander, kotnulan
Commando, aktnci boliig-u , komando
Conscript soldier, kur'a er-i
Convalescent Depot, nekahet merkez-i
Counter-espionage, casushtga kargi korunma
Defeat, tnagluhiyel
to deleat, maglup etmek, yenmek
Defence, muddfaa
to defend, mudafaa etmek
Deserter, asker kagag-i
to dig in, hiper kazip mevzdenmek , siper Laztp mevzi aimak (‘ to dig
trenehes and take position ’)
to disembark, Latoya gik(ar)mak (§ a^i ((j;)
to embark, gemiye bin(dir)mek
Embarkation leave, bindirme izn-i
Enemy, dayman
to enlist, join up, asker yazxlmak
to fight with, -le garpigmak
Fighter, avci ugag-i
„ escort, muhafiz ( himaye ) av ugaklar-i
Flame-thrower, alev cihaz-i
Fortifications, tahkimat (-ti)
to fortify, tahkim etmek
TURKISH
156
Front, vphe
„ line, cephe hatt-i
Gas, gaz
„ mask, gaz maske-si
Ground forces, kora kuvvetler-i
Halt ! Who goes there ? Dur ! Kim 0 ?
— Friend, — Yabanci degil !
Hand grenade, el bomba- si
Headquarters, karargah
Helicopter, helikopter
Hospital ship, hasla nakliye gemi-si
Infantry, piyade
Insecticide, humeral oldihucu ildt;
Intel 1 igence, is till bard l
,, Officer, islihbdrat subav-i
Interpreter, terdnnan
Jet aircraft, tepkiti u(ak
Leave, izin(-zm )
on leave, izinli
Liaison Officer, iriibat subny-i
Loiry, kainyon
Machine gun, makimli liifck
Marnr u vre s , maner-t a ( l ar >
Medical Officer, askeri duklm
,, Orderly , sthlnye er-i
Military (adjective), askeri
,, Policeman, askeri inzibnl erba^-i
Mine, mayn, rnaym -
„ -field, mayn t aria- si
-la>er, mayn sedan genii
,, -sweeper, mayn tauiyia genu, mama tatama gcnii-si
Mobilization, se/erberlik
Mortar, havan top-u
Navy, eionanma
Orderly, emir er-i
„ Officer, nobet ft subay-i
Parachutist, para^iit^ u
Password, parola
Prisoner of war, harp esir-i
„ ,, camp, esir kamp-i
Radio navigational aids, u$u$a yardun radyo tesisat-i
Red Crescent, Kizilay
APPENDIX
*57
Red Cross, Kizil Ha$ (-ft)
Regular Army, muvazzaf ordu
Reinforcements, replacements, lakviye birlikler-i
Rifle, tiifek
Rocket, fuze
Sailor, gemici
Self-propelled gun, zatiilharckc top
Sentry, ndbetgi
to post sentries, nobetfi dihmek
Shell, mermi
Shrapne l, fat ap net
Signal Corps, muhdbne simf-i
Soldier, aJ:er
Spy, units
Squadron (Air Force), ii( ah ho lug-u
(Naval*, genii filo-sit
Stretcher-bcaicr, Wm/‘, tesf erect
Submarine, dent zalh
Tank, (auk (hi)
,, -obstacle, tank mama- si
,, -trap, tank tuzag-i
Tommy Atkins (Turkish equivalent). Alchmep ih
'Transit Camp, tumid rnerhez-i
Trench, sipei
Unit, birhh, hita
Volunteer, go nulla
War, harp (-hi), \tiva$
Wing, hanad
Right -of the ainiy, ordunnn sag kanad-i
Left — of the army, ordamm sol kanad-i
Army Corps, Kolordu
Division, lumen
Brigade, la gay
Regiment, A lay
Battalion, Tabu)
Company, Bvliih
Platoon, Tahirn
Section, Manga
Battery, Batarya
L.M.G. Croup (Infantry), Mangamn hafif rnakineli kum-i
Rifle Group (Infantry), Mangamn avci kism-i .
TABLE OF RANKS
158
TURKISH
APPFNDIX
159
Note (i) : There arc no exact equivalents of these Britjsh ranks
in the Turkish forces. The titles Buyuk Amiral (Navy) and
Mare$a\ (Army and Air J?orce) are awarded to officers who have
held a high command with distinction.
Note ( ii ) : Although the table is correct for each Service, it
contains, for reasons too involved to discuss here, a discrepancy
in the relative ranks of the three Turkish Services: the Army
Tuggeneral is shown as being one rank below the Air Force
Tvggenetal and the Naval Tugamiral. which is not the case. Ser-
vice readers are asked to accept the table, discrepancy and all, as
being based on the most authoritative sources available at the
time of going to press.
Note iin) : Subtly is the generic trim for 4 Officer ’.
Aswbaylar are ‘Junior Officers', from sUtegmen to Yuzba^i
inclusive. IUnha^i to Albay inclusive aie l r \t\abmhn % those above
being collectively known as 6 tmralhr or ArintaUn.
4 Receive Office? * is Tedrf Suhov.
4 N.O.O.’ is Erhay. : R^gulai N.C.O.s are called A.slsubay,
formerly Gtdikh. There an* no regular private soldiers.
Note (h \ : Graduates ol the St.ilf ( ollege are known as Staff
Officers, Kurmav Suhavtiii , whether or not thev are serving on the
Staff: e.g., a Colonel who is a graduate of the Staff College and
is commanding an infantry regiment K lefericd to as Kurmav
Alhav. 4 General Mat! ’ is Unulkuimay.
Noit \i : To distinguish between lmkish officers of the Navy,
Armv and Air Four, the words IKniz , Kata and Hava lespeelivelv
are put before the name of the rank, which then takes the 3rd-
person possessive suflix : c.u.. Hum 4 1 light Lieutenant *
( 4 Aii its-C’aptam ' . J>nuz l)izbn)i-u, 4 Naval Lieutenant';
Kura }uzba$i-\t. 4 Anny Captain’.
Muir vry IX ik vc is
1. Ki/illai, agn bit top^u baraji himayesinde r f'urk tugayi ve
3 r )in(i \mriikaii alav linn tutmakta oldugii \ kilometielik bir
cepheye laairu/ etmiylrrdi. Mattel ik lop^u ve hnvan toplan,
a^tiklari baiaj ateyivle komunistleu Ihrlrsnti} Milletler hatlannm
takriben (3o metre yakinlaimda duicliirimiylarclir. Iki saat suren
jiddetli bii c^aipiMnayu mute akip ki/illar c,ekilmi>tir.
htziL red Uthuhtn , approximately
agu, heavy ficldet, violence
himdye, protection muttakip (with def. obj case),
subsequent to, after
i6o
TURKISH
2. Teyit edildigine gore 5 Haziran per$embe giinii Kore’de
Birle$mi$ Millctler ideali ugrunda £arpi$makta olan Tiirk Tugay-
inin cephe hattmdaki tahkimati tefti§ # eden Alay Komutani
Albay Nuri Pamir a^ilan du§man top^u ate$i neticesinde bir
5>arapnelin kafatasina isabeti neticesinde $ehid olmu§lur.
teyit etmek , to confirm nrtice , result
ideal (-//), ideal kafa-las-t , skull (head its-bowl)
teftij etmek , to inspect - e isdbet (- ti ), hit on
3. Ge<;en yila kadar atom bombqlarinm ancak stratejik sahada
kullamlabilecekleri, taktik alanda Julian ilmalari, yalmz du$man
i^in degil, kendi kitalari i^in dc tehlikeli olacagi ileri siirulmekte
idi. §inuli ise : Piyadcnin do kullanabilecegi taktik atom
silahlarina kadar bir^ok tip atom silalilari ve hombalan yapil-
maga badland igi belirtihuektedir . . . Sotira atom enerjisi ile
harcket eden uc,ak gemileri, atom enerjisi ile hareket eden deniz-
altilar, atom enerjisi ilc hareket eden harp u^aklannin da
yapilmasina ba^lanmi$ oldugu vc bu uc,ak gemilerinin hi^bir
yerden yakit ahnadan ve bu denizaltilarin hit; deniz yuzunc
(,'ikmadan ditnyayi dola?abilecek kabiliyette olacaklari belirtil-
mektedir.
sdha, til an , field, sphere of beluimek, to reveal, make clear
activity enerju power, energy
tehhke , danger hareket etmek , to m?>vc
Hen \uimek , to suggest (dt.ig yakit (~h 1, fuel
forward) yuz, face, surface
tip (-/»/!, type kdbihyet (-//', capability
4. Birle?ik Amerikh ordusumm sene soiluna kadar 1000 aded
radar la idare edilen fuzelere sahip olacagi aeiklnnmaktadir.
(Nike; adt verilen l>u fiizeler seyir halinde iken hedefi ketidi-
ligindcn bulmakta ve tahribetmektedir. Veni Meksiko'daki
usde* yapilau tecrubeler t;ok miivaffakiyetli olmu?tur.
aded, (see §91 (3)) hedej. target
idare etmek , to direct tahnbetmek , to destrov
a^iUamak, to reveal tecrube , experiment, test
seyir ( -yri ), motion, travel muvaffakiyet (-//', success
3. Kuzey Atlantik Pakti tc$kilati (NATOt Guney Avrupa
Komutani igi tarafindan dun ne.?redilen tebligde, be§ millet deniz
* This is the locative of 4 base \ The d , in defiance of § 44, is to
distinguish this word from iiste, the dative of ust, * top
APPENDIX
161
ve hava birliklerinin Akdeniz’de, raaym salma, arama ve tarama
mancvralarina ballad lklari bildirilmektedir. Yunan birlikleri,
Yunanistan’in NATO’ya girijindcnbcri, ilk dcfa olarak bu
mancvralara katilmaktadir.
pakt (- ti ), pact
te$kildt (-/i). organization
ne$retmek , to publish
teblig, communique
Akdeniz , Mediterranean
salmak , to spread, lay
laramak , to comb
Yunan , Greek (qualifying noun:
§ 7 7 )
Yuministwu Greece
katmak , to add
KEY TO THE EXERCISES
Exercise 1
A. (i) From the bridge; of the houses; to the girl; from the
money; on the steamer; to the buses. (2) We drank tea in the
house. (3) I saw (some) girls ; I $aw the girls. (4) Ahmet went
yesterday to Ankara. (5) I saw Ahmet yesterday on the bridge.
(G) The steamer went from England to Turkey. (7) The bus
went to Istanbul. (8) I took the coffee from the girl. (9) I saw
a child on the steamer, (to) 1 gave the child an apple. (11) I
gave the apple to a child. (12) The child went to the city.
B. (1) kahvede; vapurdan; ingiltcrede; kopriiye: bir
<jocuktan. (2) Dun trendc Ahmet* ten parayi aldim. (3)
Kizlara <^ay verdim. (4) Cocuklara clmalari verdim. (5)
Vapur, IstanbuFdan ingillerc’ye gitti. (6) Dim otobuste kizlan
gbrduin. (7) Vapurda bir kahve i<;tik. (8) (Jocuk, vapurdan
trenc gitti.
Exercise 2
A. (1) Has your father gone to the station? (a) # Our friend’s
shop is in Galata, near to the police station (§ 65 (|.)). (3) I saw
him in the train, not in the bus. (4) I took a cigarette from my
own box, not from yours. (5) I bought this book from your
friend Ahmet. (G) This man’s house is not far from the station,
it is very near, (y) He went to the cinema yesterday evening;
afterwards wc drank colTcc in our friends* house. (8) Is the new
Director industrious? No, he's not very industrious. (9; Their
house is at Galata, isn’t it? Yes, near to the bridge, (io) I
gave the box to this man, didn’t 1 ? ( 1 1) The child is in his room.
He is in the child’s room. (12) The neighbours’ houses. The
neighbours’ house.
13 . (1) Bu otomobil-i babanizdan aldim. Pek eski degil. (2)
Eski miidur dun ak?am Ankara’ya gitti, degil mi? (3) Kizim,
arkada§imizm diikkanina gitti. (4) Karakol, evimizden (bizim
evden) uzak degildir. (5) Bu, sizin paraniz degil. (6) Ben, bu
ak$am vapurda mudurun kiz-i-ni gdrdiim. (7) Kutunuz $imdi
Irende. (8) Onun i?i pek muhim degil. (9) Arkada§miz-m
162
KEY TO THE EXERCISES 163
babasi pek ^alijkan bir adamdir, degil mi? (10) §imd^ me§gul
mii-sunuz? — Evet, pek me§gulum.
Exercise 3
A. (i) We wanted to go to the Istanbul Exhibition, but we
had no time. (2) The police officials didn’t even look at my
passpoft. (3) Your friends moved yesterday to another house,
didn’t they? (4) We waited-for you an hour this morning at the
Islands quay; why didn’t you come? (5) He wanted to buy
cigarettes, but the shop was shut. -Wasn't there another shop?
(6) There is an apple-tree in our garden, but this year it has given
no fruit. (7) I saw your brother in the street, in an untidy get-up,
coatless, hatless. (8) My bedroom is very damp. Is there an
empty room in your hotel? Unfortunately there isn’t. (9) Is
the tall child the Director’s son? — No, he lias a daughter, he has
no son. (10) The Conqueror took Istanbul from the Byzantines
in the year 14 53. (11) The alcoholic drinks monopoly was one
of the great works of the Republic (and) a principal source of
profit of the State. (12) Haven't vou read the book called Our
Village?
B. (1) (Kiz)karde^iniz evli niidir? (2) Baska bir otcle gitmek
istedi. (3) Bu sigara kutusu yeni mi? — Evet annom bana onu
verdi. (4) Adresimizi belki telefon reliberinde buldu. (",) Elma
aga^lanmiz bu y ll (sene') <;*ok rneyva verdi, degil nu? (b) Sari-h
kiz, Orhan’in kardi^-i-dir. (7) Onu istasyonda bekledik fakat
gelmedi. (8) Kizkardesim evlcrini (onlanri evini) aimak istedi
fakat ben begenmedim, pek rutubetlidir. (9) Basaportunuzu
oteldc mi biraklmiz? (m) Halk, memleketin ger^ek (asil)
efendisidir.
Exercise 4
A. (1) Why aren’t you going to the Islands to-day? Because
the weather isn’t fine. (2) Wc were wanting to discuss this
question with you. (3) My wife and I went round the Covered
Market yesterday. (4) Did you come to Turkey by aeroplane
or by steamer? (5) I’ve three tickets for this evening; you’re
coming with us, aren’t you? — Unfortunately I’ve no time; I’m
going to Ankara to-morrow morning (and) I want to go to bed early
to-night. (6) On a rainy night, two horsemen were going along
(‘on’) a lonely road. (7) 1 have not seen such a thing in my
life. (8) There are 12 months in a year. There are 4 weeks in
TURKISH
164
a montfi. There are 7 days in a week. The names of the days
are these (following) : Sunday, Monday, etc. Have you learned
these (preceding)? (9) Is there a city t in the world as beautiful
as Istanbul? (10) It is necessary to send this letter by airmail.
B. (1) Karim, babasmi gormek iyin Kibris’a gitti. (2) §u
sari say-li kiz sizin karde?iniz midir? (3) Babamla (babam ile)
karde?im yeni piyes-i begenmedi(ler). (4) Kay bilet aimak isti-
yorsunuz?- Be? tane. (5) Bir yilda (senede) iiy yiiz alt mi? be?
gun vardir. (6) Yeni bakan bu sabah Istanbul'dan tayyare ile
(uyakla) geliyor. (7) Bu su bu$ gibi-dir; bu su buz kadar
soguktur. (8) Niyin bu havada ?apkasiz paltosuz geziyorsunuz ?
(9) Maalesef kocam bcni anlannyor. (ioj §u adam-i laniyor
musunuz? Niyin bize bakiyor?
Exercise 5
A. (1) You are going to strive, weary yourself and at last be
successful. (2) Whose is the black car whirh-is-over-therc? — I
don't know ; it’s ccrtainh not mine. (3) Where's your friend
rotn?- He's like me, a Londoner. (\) Are you going to go to
Turkey soon? - -Not very soon; I shall go after the summer
holida>. [ 3 ' Is your father going by to-day’s train or is he stay-
ing over till { * 1 eiimining to ’) to-morrow ? (6^ Ista nbul is both our
biggest and our most beautiful city. (7) That picture is like the
one in my room, isn’t it? Yes, but it’s more beautiful than yours.
(8) Why did you sit and not help me? (9) Of those two ladies,
t lie* one dressed in black is the Prime Minister's wife. (10) 1
wonder whether the Grand National Assembly will accept this
motion? It won't/ (11) Weren't you going to speak of this
problem? (12) This morning I got up before my brother.
B. (1) Yarinki topi anti dan dolayi tiyatroya gitmiyecekiik.
(2) ko$edeki adam ne yapiyor acaba?— Namaz kiliyor, drgil
mi? (3) Biiyuk Millet Merlisi (B.M.M.) Bakan-in teklif-i-ni
kabul etmedi mi? (4) Bizim iklisadi vaziyet (duium) §imdi
bamba?kadir. (3) Tiyatrodan sonra tstasyon Lokantasma gittik.
(6^ Orhan, yoruklardan hem cn buyugu ^§§43, 100 (i)'i hem de
on akil-li-si-dir. — Kendi kizkaide?-i-nden daha akilh midir
acaba? (7) Bugunkii toplantidan bahsediyor muydunuz? (8)
Onun odasi, beniinki kadar temiz drgil, beniinki tertemizdir.
(9) Gocugu el-i-nden tuttum. Galata kopru-su-nden beraber
geytik. (10) Sizin karde§-iniz-in kopeg-i-nin ism-i (ad-i) nedir?
— Onun kbpegi yok, benimki-nin ismi Karaba?'tir. (11) Bence
KEY TO THE EXERCISES 165
en giizel koku-lu qiqck guldiir. ( 1 2) Nihayet geni§ bah^li bir ev
bulduk.
Exercise 6
A. (1) Two teams of eleven people each. (2) You waited
half an hour, we waited one and a half hours. (3) Who ate half
of the bread? (4) I bought these oranges for four piastres each.
The fruiterer wanted seven piastres each for some rather bigger
ones (‘ for a-little more big-of-them ’) ; I found (this) expensive and
did not buy (them). (5) The banks give 2.J% interest on (‘to*)
small savings accounts. (6) The first snow of the year fell
yesterday. (7) When did the last World War begin?— On 3rd
September 1939. v 8) I’ll call again, perhaps lo-morrow after-
noon. (9) On 30th August 1922 the Turkish army won one of
the world’s greatest pitched battles, (lo'i 'Travelling in the
sleeping-car is doubtless a very comfortable thing. (11) Whose
are the papers cm die third dielf.' (12) I believe I trod on your
foot. I beg your pardon, 1 didn't see.
B. (1) Lutfen bana telrfon ichberini getirir misiniz? -Hay-
hay ! — Te^ekkur ederirn. ^2) Yazi yazmak i<pn kalcrn, kagit vc
murekkep laztm. (3) Ak^am-a kadar dola$tim, ayagima gore
bir ayakkabi bulmadim. (4) Hasta olrnaktan korkmaz misiniz?
(fjj Biz trarnvavi gorur gormez, Orhan ko$rnaga ba§lad i. (6)
Saatiniz o dolabin ikinei rafincla duruyor. (7) Ben bu sabah
Taksim Meydanmda tramvaya binerken, iic; fotograf<,T gbrdum.
(8) Bu apart inian 1am size gore -dir. (9) Kari-m radyo-yu
clinlcrken diki? diker. (ro) Insan tayyare ile (uc;ak ilr, u^akla)
ku<j gibi havada ucar. (11) Her buyuk §ehir nesil-den nrsl-e
degi^ir. (12) O gitti, bilmern nereye?
Exercise 7
A. ( 1 ) The Bulgars are Turkish: it is the language which
makes them Slav (‘them Slav making is-language ’). (2) Whom
did you ask about this? (3) But this longing is not simply a
feeling which belongs to time past. (4) R.,ach me that book.
No, not that one, I want the (one) standing on that shelf. (5)
Your friend is the how-manyeth of those standing in that file?--
The sixth of them. (6) God protect the (one) remaining in the
open in this season. (7) There are seven Mehmets in our Brigade ;
which-one-of-thcm arc you enquiring about? (8) O Turkish
youth, your first duty is to preserve and defend for ever Turkish
1 66
TURKISH
independence and the Turkish Republic (q) Wait-for me here,
I’ll come m five minutes (io) Inside ten minutes we began to
talk familiarly with him (i i ) I want to*vait-foi my fnends here ,
is it possible?— Of couise it is, why shouldn’t it be? (‘why let
it not be * ’) (12) 1 he vie w which me cts ( strikes ’) y our e ye is the
view of a naluial fortific ation, with its pass be tween two flat hills
B (1) Kopek niracak gibi di^lenni gosteidi ( 2 ) O kadar
hizli yurumeyin (}; ^u fotogiafiari al da benim niasamm
u/enne koy (j. Sark 1^111 ‘ olumun snnna sahiptn * deilci
(5) Kitibin yapikklarim parmakta detail ^akrsla acini/ (6)
Hangi at biunci gcldi 1 7) Hamdolsun mum/ i\i gidivoi (8)
Go<; kalmism, erkc n gf lsin tq] Kovunchn ^ikniamis ko\lu bu
iricsc lc It ri anl ir mi ? \nlnn 1/ 10 Onlai bi/den bu c\ asiri
otui uilai
Exercise 8
\ 1 I hivt gon< to 1 r/uruni thiee linn s and b\ quilt
diffi lent routes eat h time ( itthe-thicc oltlum 2) Mo°i of
the gn Is who arc tutning now tit \rr\ ugh ( , l his morning
I bought two h indkt re hit fs On< ot them is in my pot k< t but
whit bet line ot the other whit it bee 11m 1 don t know (4)
I sxw no liana m i< turning to ( on to this topic ^ The doctor
wint round the patents, lit told of] the nurst who f^igot to give
oik ])Ttu nt s mt die int at the piopti tun it its tunc b 1
mi not accustomed to list* rung to gossip 7 I im mtc Tiding to
go ( to go 1 tin in the intention of it to 1st tnbul l)o sou want
to go too'’ f B) l lie moon becomes evident fiom its rising the
mm lrorn Ins walking Both the mimstns of \uhdcttin and
Mustafa Rand himself in seeking pic text s m oida to cioss
o\ti to Anatoli i 10 l 01 this mothaland whit things hi\e wc
not done 1 Som< of 11 ■* have died some of us hue made speeches
B (i; Silt scki/c on \ 11 silt seki/e on kali sut bin
^eyrek ge^ivoi siat bin e^evitk gicc saat doku/, dokuz bu^uk
sulaimda gclnler (2) Bu eser edcbiyalitm/da va tutmiva
laviktn ( f) Bugun fi/urum 1 gitmcktcn va/gc^tnn (4^ Beni
dikkatle dinlemenui uca edcrnn Bu yuruyu^lc evlenne
saat yediden evvel vaimis olacagiz (b) Bu para bir alt in saat
dlmaga yetme/ (7) Bu is be* dakka surmc/ ^8 ) Bu, benim
otomobilum almam/a st.be p tcskil edei mi’ ^q) Bu i$i vapma-
111/a kim engcl oldu ■* (in) Insanlir vemek l^in va^ama/Jar,
ya^amak 19m yciler
KEY TO THE EXERCISES
I6 7
Exercise 9
A. (1) You will havc # read the article which came out in Ulus
two days ago. You will have read it and been surprised. (2)
Hush ! Is that the way to talk in front of the child? ( 4 Is that sort
of talk spoken by the side of . . . ? *) (3) The newly built pro-
vincial government house will shortly be opened with a big
ceremony. (4) A small piece of stick 10 centimetres long (‘in
the length of 10 centimetres’) and 2 or 3 centimetres thick. (5)
Two stones standing side by side with one metre interval. (6)
Onto these stones a stick is placed, one and a half metres long,
one or two centimetres in diameter. (7) They had received
order (s) for the immediate arrest of the stranger (‘ about his being
immediately arrested '). (8) You like the orange, but you've
certainly never eaten one like this (‘ the-thus-of-it ’). (9) General
T.Y., who has (for) a long period served as commander of (‘ hav-
ing done the commanders}] ip of’) our Korea Combat Unit, is to
be put on the re tired list f will-bc-set-apart to-the-pensioned ') next
August. O11 the other hand ('from the other side, moreover'),
Colonel C.D., who has served as Regimental Commander of our
Korea’ Unit, will be promoted this year to the rank of Brigadier
(‘ to-Briiradiership
B. (n Sinemayi hyatmva claima teriih etmi^iindir. (2) Bir
gunluk trim yolu urakla bir bu^tik saatle aliniyor. (3) Ben dun
gecc pencercden bakarkrn, kar yagdi. (4) Ben diin gece uyurken,
kar yagmty (f,) Dun beni gorrnegc geinn$siniz; evde buluri-
mayi§irna <,i>k uzuldum. (b) Dikeusiz gul olmazmi.?. (7) Hayli
yorulac aksiniz. t^unku bn, kolay ha$ar-il-ir bir i§ degildir.
(8) Buradaki kum tepeleri bazi yerlerde altmi? dokuz metreye
kadar yukscliyoidu. (9) Durt kere dokuz otuz alti eder. (10)
Kendiniz-i lizmeyin.
Exercise 10
A. ( 1 ) The bad (part: of the business was this: this life had
been lost, never more to return. (2) Arc they not afraid of the
coming of a day on which the account of these illegalities (‘ law-
lessnesses *) will be asked? (3) In the village, very few people
know the official twelve months which arc used in the city and
which the villager calls 4 the Government month ’. (4) In
London, the War Ministry spokesman said that this sort of news
was no more than ( 4 did not go forward from ’) a rumour. . . .
TURKISH
1 68
The American Ambassador said that he had no information (‘ his
information not being’) about this news-item. (5) The Beauty
Queen of Turkey was chosen last nighj at the Atlas Cinema.
The cinema auditorium had filled up early. A good many
people too had lined up outside to see the beauties who were
about to enter for the elections. (6) The villages which are our
object of study (with the exception of one of them which is as
much as fifty-five kilometres away) are within a 20 -22-kiJometre
area round the city of Ankara. (7) One of the incongruities of
our life is also that although we t,\vc and amuse ourselves in
Beyoglu, we don't like it, we find it ridiculous to mention it (‘is
our-not-I iking . . . our-fmding ’). (8) A gang of people, with
Turkish money in their hands, are currency-hunting (‘arc doing
huntsmanship ’) and chasing tourists in the streets of Istanbul.
B. (n Dun gece cok i^im vardi, ancak saat birde vatabildim.
(it) U<;un kuglai dogdugum yeic. (3) Umulmadik ta$ has
yarar. (4) Onlarda taklit edilcmiyen §ey giydiklen degil, giy-
ini§leri idi. (5) Kendini gdreccgiin gunii size de haber veririm.
(6) Bugun gidecegim suphcli-dir. (7) Bugiindcn yarim dusun-
miyenler gelo< rgc emniyetle bakamazlar. (8) Ban a yapligmiz bu
iyiligi hi<;bii zaiuan unutimy acagitn. (9) Si/in na*il bir kuma$
istedigiiiizi ben nerden bilirim? (10) .Sehirdcu niandiralara
giden yohm ge^tigi tahta kbprude durdu . . . daldigi tatli
alemden uyaudi. Ne yaptigim, nc yapacagmi biimiyen bir
adarn gibiydi.
Exercise 1 1
A. (1) In the dailcness of night we boarded the goods train,
under the impression that it was the passenger train. (2) There
must be a hole in the ball: it’s always letting the air escape. (3)
This jump caused him to lose his balance*. (4) It means I’ve got
to buy paper and pen and all the rest of it. (,f/j Those who were
present looked-at-one another. (6) The persistence in these
drinkers’ wanting to make those-who-are beside-them drink too,
is not comprehensible (‘is not understood thing’). (7) Because
he wrote a lot, they used to call Ahmet Milhat Efendi * a machine
of (§ 1 41) forty horse-power (8) In the last message received
from the ship, it was reported (‘ in-the-act-of-being-rnade known ’)
that the ship had begun to be submerged in the waters. (91
Pasteur had discerned that, just as there was a virus producing
(‘ giving birth to ’) every infectious disease (‘ ill-ness ’), there would
KEY TO THE EXERCISES 169
also be a virus of rabies, (io) The administration of, the Sea
Lines yesterday stopped the steamer ‘ Seyyar * from (making its)
voyage, by an order whose cause is not (‘its cause-not-bcing ’)
clear. The * Seyyar ’ will make its normal voyage on Saturday,
the tickets sold for the steamer being valid, (u) They call the
unit made up of 14 privates: ‘ section \ (12) You should walk
on the right, not on the left.
B. (1) 1 * dun bitti; i$i dun bitirdim. (2) Gazeteler-e bir ilan
bas-tir-mah idik. (3) Raftan §11 kitabi in-dir-ir misiniz? — Rafta
kitap mitap yok. (4) Ne yapacagim dive dugunuyordum. (5)
O, herkes-le pek resmi-dir. (6) Otcki oda bundan (dahaj
genigtir. (7) Ocnizalti gemiyi bat-ir-di. (8) Bana ihtiyac-imz
ol-up ol-ma-diguu ogrenmego geldim. (9) Yarin gelip beni
gorunuz. (10) Beni saat alt 1 bucukta uyan-dir-ir nusiniz?
Exercise 12
A. (1) England, which has the greater portion of her territories
overseas, is in no position 10 neglect the sea (‘is in the position
pertaining-lo-being-imable-to . . (2) When a new bride is
about to come to the house, if the rooms are not sufficient, a new'
room is added to the house. (3) If the weather doesn’t clear by
noon, we're not going out. 1*4) If he will take the trouble to open
and read the last page, hr will see this. (3) Even without the
rest (‘ if the others were-not '), just this is sufficient. (6) Tf 1 had
become accustomed to tins pleasure, naturally it would come
very hard now to give it up. (7) Whatever he says, nobody
listens (‘the listener does-not-occur '). (8) The works of this
period, although they are not worthy of (a) great reliance, can
be counted as something, in the midst of nothing (‘existent in non-
existence*). (p'i If onh he < amc and told me his trouble! I
would find a remedy lor it. f 10) li this war would only stop and
then . . . !- What will happen if it does stop? (11) If you look
after it it will become an orchard, if you don’t it will become a
wilderness (‘ If you look, 01 chard comes into- being ; if you do not
look, mountain eonics-imo-bciug ’j. (12) i-ovc him-who-lovcs
thee, if-hc-be level w’ith the earth ; don’t-love him-who-does-not-
love thee, if he be Sultan in Egypt.
B. (1) Ivi-ylc kotuyii ayir-acak yagtasimz. (2)Gitmem! . . .
dediysem de, israr ettiler. 13) Bilmezse sorsun. (4) Kardegim
ise, oraya hi^ gitmez. (5) Onun nasil bir adam oldugunu
bilseler. ... ( 6 ) Saat bir-e kadar gelmezse siz beklemeyiniz.
TURKISH
170
(7) Suss^mz a ! Dinleseniz e ! (8) Ne isterse yapar. (9) Hasan’ m
bugiin ni^in okula gelmedigini bilse bilse Orhan bilir, git ondan
sor. (io) Ne olursa olsun bu mektubu bitirmem lazim.
Exercise 13
A. (i) For how much must one sell a cloth bought at 64
piastres a metre so that it may leave eight per cent profit on every
metre? (‘its-metre being-bought for 64 piastres a cloth for-how-
much must-one-sell that in every metre-of-it in-the-hundred eight
profit let-it-leave *). (2) Tin's job Will not end, unless you help
too. (3) Since we’ve been married I’ve never heard him talking
in his sleep. (4) Since the beginning of time (‘since the world
came into being’), the world has seen no catastrophe as great as
the last war. (5) I hadn’t intended to buy (‘ I had said let-me-
not-buy ’) anymore clothes, but now you see my friend’s wedding
has turned up (‘come up*). (6) Pushing and shoving, we
broke through the crowd and boarded the steamer. (7) I shall
depart from this world and go, without learning what ‘ genius ’
means. (8) Naim Efendi shrugged his shoulders and bent his
neck as if saying, ‘What are we to do? Fate was thus.* (9) After
his big sister returned from Europe, everything began to
change, (ioj Unless God grants (‘God not-having-given ’),
what can the slave (i.e., mortal man) do? fn) Efcm’t choose
the radio which you are going to buy by the toss of a coin
(‘ by-throwing heads-lails ’). (12) I’ll keep your place till you’ve
smoked your cigarette.
B. (1) Gunc$ sonrtjedikce hayat devam edecektir. (2) Istanbul
gittik^e aga^siz kaliyor. (3) Ben ancak elirndeki i$i bit-ir-dik-ten
sonra sizin yazi-niz-i okuyabilirim. (4) Bir lokma ekmek (§ 140)
yemeksizin yola <;ikrm§tik. (5) Yagmur yagdik^a hep o gunii
hatirla-r-nn. ((i) Bir eve sahibinden izin almadan girihnez.
(7) Gamiin iki yuz metre kadar garbmda (batismda) yeni yapilan
bir $e§me bulunmaktadir. (8) Itiraz etnieksizin (etmeden)
dedigimi kabul etti. (9) Saal yedi bu^ugu ge?mi§; $abuk
olalim, get; kalacagiz. (10) Ben size liangi gun geleyim?
Exercise 14
(1) Let-us-not-talk as-if-quarrelling. (2) It turns out that we
have been nurturing snakes in our bosom! (3) I am grieved
while departing from A., just as my departure from I. made me
sad (‘ had given me sadness ’). (4) (I gather that) you were expect-
KEY TO THE EXERCISES 171
ing me for dinner, whereas I had no news of this invitation.
(5) And what about your big sister? Won’t she be coming?
(6) It’s too bad of yoy, (my) Teacher; I should never have
expected this of you! — Nothing wrong I hope, my son? What
has happened? (7) You at least should not have spoken thus.
(8) So he’s pushed his nose too into this business, has he? (9)
Mind you don’t forget what I say. (10) If once he sees, we’ve
had it. (11) He was pretty well thrown out; we were saying,
4 He won’t come any more after this * ; and now you see he’s
come again. (12) Everyone lias gone, only he has remained.
(13) May bis eye come out ! (14) This is an unnecessary question,
isn’t it? (i.e., Need you ask?) (15) The children’s clothes must
be cut rather full. (iG) There was a certain acidity fa sour-ish-
licss ’) in their manner which showed that they were not pleased
at (‘ from ’) my coming. (17) A thing's being cheap or dear does
not always depend on the price it rosts. (18) The official whose
turn came ( k his-turn coming the-official ’) used to be promoted
automatically. According to what we learn, under (‘ in ’) the new
Bill, officials will be promoted according to merit, not according
to time; if need arises they will even bo able to be promoted
three times in one year.
Exercise 15
(i) With whatever weapons lie arms himself let him arm him-
self, he will not be able to escape from death (i.c., let him arm
himself as he pleases). (2) Ob dear! Things have got com-
plicated! (3) We wont round from door to door (‘door door’)
and sought him. (4) Last night one of my grandfather’s sheep
lambed. (5) He folded the letter into (‘ to’) two in order to put
it into the envelope. (6) The weather's getting cloudy. I
expect it’s going to rain. (7) (.me person was missing; now
we’re up to strength (‘ w'c-havc-c ompleted-ourselves ’). (8) I want
to wire there for them to send (‘for t heir-sending ’) my things.
(9) They rail people who have no employme at (‘ his-work his-toil
not-being ’) and roam here and there, ‘ Pavement Engineer ’ (i.e.,
tramp, ef. our ‘ milestone inspector ’). (10) The unbound parts
of this book are sold for 50 k. less (‘ for the deficiency of 50 k. ’)
than the bound version ( ‘ than-the bound-of-it ’) . ( 1 1 ) Manuscript
and print, all kinds of old books are bought. Books in large
quantity are bought on the spot (‘ in-its-place ’), a man being sent.
Application to our office (‘ administration-house *) in personor by
TURKISH
172
letter. £12) The games and library rooms of the building are to
be kept open as formerly for the benefit of the young (‘youth’).
(13) My grandfather fell-asleep-suddenly^ while reading his news-
paper. (14) You are comparing these two things but this com-
parison which you are making is not appropriate. For the
things which you are comparing (‘ pertaining-to-your-making
their-comparison ’) are not of the same species. (15) Those who
have finished the age of six by the end of September every year
are obliged to continue at elementary (‘ first ’) school until the end
of the school year in which they (Complete (‘ per taining-to their
completing’) the age of fourteen. (16) Rather than to run after
an impossible thing (‘a work which will-not-be ’), it is doubtless
more reasonable at once to-tasle-quickly the pleasure of life
wherever one finds it (‘ in-the-place pertaining-to-its-passing to-
the hand ’). (17) According to what has been made known from
reliable sources, the Varna Consulate having been transferred to
the Sofia Consulate, the two Consulates have been amalgamated
(* made-to-bccomc-one ’). (18) She used often to be taken ill and
as soon as the fever began she would rave-about the waters of
Istanbul.
Military Extracts
1. Under cover of a heavy artillery barrage, th<^ Reds had
attacked a 4-kiloinetre front which the Turkish Brigade and the
35th American Regiment were holding. Allied artillery and
mortars, with the barrage fire which they opened, stopped the
Communists some 80 metres away from the United Nations lines.
After a violent engagement which lasted two hours, the Reds
withdrew.
2. Tt has been confirmed that (‘ according to what is confirmed ')
the Regimental Commander Colonel Nuri Pamir, who w'as
inspecting the front-line fortifications of the Turkish Brigade
which is fighting in Korea for the sake of the ideal of United
Nations, was killed ( ‘ became martyr’) on Thursday 5th June as
the result of a piece of shrapnel’s hitting his skull, as the result of
the enemy artillery fire which was opened.
3. Up to last year, it was suggested that atom bombs could be
used ( k their-future-being-able-to-be-used was suggested ’) only in
the strategic sphere (and) that their use (‘ their-bcing-used ’) in the
tactical sphere would be dangerous not only for the enemy but
also for (one’s) own units. Now r , however (‘ as for now ’), it is
KEY TO THE EXERCISES 173
revealed that a good many types of atomic weapons and bombs
have (been) begun to be made, including (‘as far as *) tactical
atomic weapons which^ infantry, too, will be able to use. . . .
Next, it is revealed that the manufacture has begun of aircraft
carriers driven by (* moving by b atomic energy, submarines driven
by atomic energy (and » war-planes driven by atomic energy, and
that these aircraft carriers will be capable of going round the
world (‘will be in-thc-capabilily pertaining to futurc-being-able-
to-go . . . ') without-taking fuel from anywhere, and these
submarines (ditto) without coming up at all to the sea surface.
4. It is revealed that by the year-end the U.S. Army ( v the army
of United America’' will possess rooo radar-directed rockets.
These rockets, which have been named ‘ Nike * the name of N.
being-given these rockets'), find the target of their own accord
while in flight (“while in the state of motion') and destroy it.
Tests earned out at the base in New Mexico have been highly
sue c cssful .
j. Iii the communique published yesterday by the Southern
Europe Command of the North Atlantic Pact organization
; NATOs, it is announced that sea and air units of five nations
have begun mine-laving and -sweeping manoeuvres in the
Mediterranean. For the first time since Greece's entry into
NATO, Greek ibices are joining (‘are being added to’) these
niancrm res.
INDEX OF SUFFIXES
Of suffixes liable to the fourfold vowel-harmony, only the forms
in i are shown ; of those liable to the twofold harmony, only the
forms in e. If you find an unaccountable i, i, u or u before y,
remember that it may be for an original e or a (§ 88, Note) . The
buffer-letter y is not shown. Suffixes which may begin with c
or g, d or /, will be found under c and d. Thus, if you arc looking
up the suffixes of bakamtyarak , you will have to seek the -yarak
under - erek , the -ami- under - eme . For the - tur of bozuktur, see
-dir ; for the -yi of Ankara yi, sec -i ; for the -sun of gorstin , see -sin ;
for the -j fa of ho$ga> see -ce. The numbers refer to paragraphs. See
also §§ 174, 175.
- a § iri , 127
- beri , 101
- ce , 96, 137 (8), 168, 170
- cegiz , 170
- cesine , 164
- ci , 113
- cik , 170
- fin , 94
- da $, 169
- de , bo, in, 141, 144^‘c), 17b (1)
- den , 61, 100, 144 ( d )
di , 81
- dig -, 143, 144
- dik , 81, 142
- dik ( e , 162
- dikleti , 143, 144
-dik ten , 162
- dim , 8 1
- din ( iz ), 81
- dir , 67, 135 (4), 151
59, >15. • >6, 144 (>>), '5i W,
152, l62
-ebil, 146
- ecei -, 102, 123, 143. 144
- ecek , 102, 123, 156
-ecekleri, 143, 144
-edur, -egel, - ekal , 17G
-el, 173 ( 7 )
-eler, 159
- eli , 162
-eliw, 159
-eme, 147
- en , 121
-er, iof J; 112, 123, 1 51
- erek , 162
-esifye), 168
-esin(iz), 159
-eyim, 159
-hane, 173 (2)
-»> 57 - 7 1 ' > 3 ‘. l66 - >73 ( 7 )
-l, *73 ( 7 )
- ici , 171
-H, 137
- im , 67, 70, 71
- imiz , 71
-imri, irntrak , 169
-in, 58, 71, 128, 137, 163
• ince , 96 (3), 162
74
INDEX OF SUFFIXES
175
- inci , no
- inde , - inden , - ine , - ini , - inin , 71
71, 128
*55
-ir, 105, 123, 151
- isi , 131, 173 (1)
-ifc 129, 150
- it , 1 51
- iver , 176
-iz, 67
108, 152 (5)
- hi , 98
- It , 94 . 95. 126 (5)
- ler , 53
- leri , 71, 163
- leyin , 163
-//, 86
-/tA, 1 14
-m, 71
83, 129
- meden , 162
- mek , 79, 1 19, 129
meklik , 129
meksizin , 162
- mektense % 162
-mf/z, 1 33
- memezlik , 129, 176 (5) a
106, 123
- mezlik , 129
-mz>, 122, 134, 135, 136
71
-mjz, mtrak, 170
-«> 7°> 7«> 92, 96, 98, 131, 132,
1 37
-««, no
-ne, 173 (2)
-mn, 58
7i
-r, 105, 123
97
-.v, -jdA, 158
173 ( 7 )
-sem, -sen, - seniz , 158
-si, yi, 166, 170
-.sin, 67, 128, 159
-siniz, O7
-siz, 87
-fi ^50
-jit, 1 1 2
-jfzr, 1 51
-f, 151
-^vor, 88
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11